Mass Effect Duality: By Sharp and Flame
by Lachdannen
Summary: My take at the events of Mass Effect 1, with a bit of a change: "Commander Shepard" is two very different individuals. A pair of friends since childhood, who have never served together before are brought together as Humanities first human Spectres. Initially will follow relatively truthfully to the game, but out of necessity (and fun) will shift away later. Story 1 of Planned 3.
1. Prologue

**Prologue - **

_Location: Milky Way, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus System –  
Arcturus Station, Offices of the System's Alliance Parliament_

Ambassador Udina glanced at the hologram in irritation before going back to the last two files in front of him

"Well, what about this Commander Johnathan Michael Shepard." He flipped the page to take a look at the candidate, one of the few that the other two members of the small committee had not already discarded. "He's a spacer, lived aboard starships most of his life. "

The dark complexioned man sitting next to him shrugged. "Military service runs in the family. Both his parents were in the navy. His mother is currently serving as Executive Officer on board the _SSV Kilimanjaro._ His father was a marine, killed-in-action at the fighting on the colony of Mindoir."

Udina looked over at him. "Mindoir? That was the Batarian's, yes?"

Captain Anderson nodded. "It was a mess. The colony was practically wiped out. "

Udina went back to the file. "Signed up for military service at the age of eighteen, volunteered for mission to Akuze."

The hologram of the grizzled Admiral Hackett grimaced. "Akuze was a slaughter. He saw his whole unit die there. He could have some serious emotional scars."

Anderson faced his superior officer squarely. "Every soldier has scars. Shepard's a survivor."

It was Udina's turn to grimace. "Is that the kind of person we want protecting the galaxy? Representing us to the Council in the Spectre's?"

Anderson turned his level look on Udina, dark eyes boring into him. "That's the only kind of person who can protect the galaxy. "

Udina flipped through the rest of the file, but didn't find anything else of note. Aside from Akuze, something that couldn't be laid on his shoulders, his record was nearly spotless. He had distinguished himself by completing the full training program of the ITC, Interplanetary Combatives Training, at a record pace, gaining his N5 designation nearly 6 weeks earlier than anyone else on record. The Commander had earned excellent marks in hacking, stealth, marksmanship, and close quarter combat. His marksmanship was still among the highest on record. He earned his N6 designation in the Attican Traverse, where he put that sharpshooting skills to good use, fighting in four separate engagements against a mercenary company, the Hell Harvesters. The squad had documented 25 confirmed kills to his name, including the three most senior ranked officers of the mercenary company. At the end of that tour, he had received the highly coveted N7 designation, ranking him as one of the best of the best.

Udina flipped to the second filed on this data pad and immediately frowned. "Major Rhiannon Llewelyn-Shepard?" He looked up at Admiral Hackett. "Is this a joke?"

"I assure you it's not, Ambassador, Admiral." Said Anderson. "To the best of our knowledge, they are entirely unrelated, though they have met." He had a look in his eye that meant he knew something, but wasn't telling. Hackett grunted.

"She grew up in the colonies, originally from…." He trailed off.

Anderson finished for him. "Mindoir. She knows how tough life can be out there. Her parents were killed when slavers attacked the colony. She was one of the few the marines were able to save."

Admiral Hackett had apparently skipped farther ahead. "I think you will like this one, Ambassador. I do. She was on shore leave on Elysium during The Blitz. Distinguished herself by holding off enemy ground forces at the main spaceport until reinforcements arrived. Arguably, she's the reason Elysium is still standing."

Udina read through the report on The Skyllian Blitz. The Blitz had been a major assault on the human colony of Elysium, where pirates, slavers, and Batarian warlords had launched an attack on the Skyllian Verge. It had been caused by the rising tension over human expansion into the Verge, as well as the System Alliances campaign to suppress the repeated pirate attacks through the area.

The Major had apparently rallied the civilian defenders to hold the colony, keeping the majority of the attacking forces from cracking the meager defenses, and keeping the spaceport from being overrun. When they did crack, she had nearly singlehandedly sealed the breach herself, and held it until reinforcements, Marines from the _SSV Agincourt_ landed to relieve her and the other survivors. She was a biotic, able to use…well, Udina wasn't a scientist, but they somehow could use and control Mass Effect fields to create telekinesis-like effects, able to lift and throw objects, as well as create protective barriers, even generating and controlling gravitational fields. It was rare in humans, though other alien races had them in abundance.

Regardless of how she did it, she had. "Well, you can't question her courage."

"If you are looking for a hero for humanity, you have her. She's perhaps the best we've got."

Hackett nodded his approval. "Prime Minister doesn't exactly hand out a Star of Terra often, Ambassador."

Udina nodded as he continued reading the file. Rhiannon Shepard had not progressed through the ITC program as fast as her male counterpart, but she had passed. She had received her N5 designation before the Blitz. She had been scheduled to go on tour after her shore-leave, but The Skyllian Blitz had put an end to that. Due to her actions during the Blitz, she been granted a field designation of N6, and had later also been granted that N7 as part of her later operations, including the capture of a rogue biotic alliance officer who had succumbed to some form of dementia.

Udina stopped, remembering something, and scanned back up through her medical history before relaxing a bit. Biotics required implants to be able to create gravitational and telekinetic fields, and he knew that some of the earlier implants had some extremely severe side-effects. She, however, had been fitted with one of the later LX3's. She would never get the power spikes some of the LX2's would, but she didn't run the risk of going insane or any of the other number of psychoses that plagued biotics with the earlier designs.

He shut down the data pad and looked at the other two.

"Well? Which one will make it past the council's watch-dog?"

Admiral Hackett shrugged. "Commander Shepard, Johnathan Shepard that is, has the most field experience. The Major on the other hand, has the fact she's already beaten the odds, even if she's slightly less seasoned. They would both be good choices in my book."

Anderson looked amused. "Why not put them both forward. "

Both the other men looked over at the Captain who just shrugged in turn. "Offer them both up. I understand that they both have been scouted by the Council already. Let the Spectre choose, if he has to choose one. He could decide he likes them both and keep both. And if nothing else, Admiral, it doubles humanities chances."

Udina thought about it for a moment, teasing the idea over in his mind. If he could sell it to the Council as not just that both were qualified, but as them deciding the kind of individual they wanted to see in a Spectre, then that might work. And if they decided by some miracle that both of them were Spectre material, that would send humanity leaps forward into actually joining the Citadel Council, and not just a government that had agreed to be bound by their rules.

"Fine. I'll make the call. "

* * *

_**Author's Note:** I hope you have enjoyed this little tidbit. I currently have about 6 chapters written and am in the process of trying to proofread and edit them for release, and will publish them as soon as possible. This is my first attempt at a fanfic, so I apologize in advance for the abuse I may or may not inflict upon your psyche and upon your favorite characters. _

_This story is planned to be the first of three, covering all three games. I have thoughts on Stories two and three, but...well, you will just have to wait and see. _

_Again, thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _Mass Effect belongs to Bioware. Characters and anything else used within is intended as a tribute/variation on their game. _

* * *

**Chapter 1 **

_Location: Milky Way, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus System –  
Arcturus Station, Personal Quarters _

Rhia woke to her terminal beeping insistently at her, and briefly considered shooting it. She pulled her face out of the pillow, glaring across the room at the amber orange glow as the terminal made a noise again, indicating she was getting an incoming vidcom call. She pulled herself out the comfort of her own bed, a luxury she hadn't been able to indulge in for nearly 6 months from her last deployment, and slumped into the seat of her console, finally accepting the incoming hail.

The grizzled greying face of Admiral Steven Hackett, Admiral of the Fifth Fleet, greeted her.

"Major, I'm sorry to wake you, but I just had the authorizations come through my office a few minutes ago, and they are time stamped for tomorrow morning." He said without any pre-amble. "You have new orders to report to Bay 3 tomorrow at 0500, prepared to leave for extended deployment."

Rhia just stared at him, trying to make his words make sense.. "Sir, I just got back from an extended deployment training deployment in the Traverse with forty Cadets from ITC. I'm exhausted. I am on _shore leave_ starting last night." She looked at the timestamp on her console and scowled. "Or rather, tonight still. With all due respect Admiral, what the hell?"

"Major, would that I could tell you what was going on, but I have my orders as well. You are to report to Docking Bay 3, for deployment on the shakedown cruise of the _SSV Normandy_. I am not at liberty to give you any more than that."

That stopped her cold. Admiral Hackett was one of the highest ranking officers in the Alliance. For an order to be above him would be rare. She ran one hand through her hair, pulling away from her face. "Yes sir."

She paused for a beat. "Permission to speak frankly Admiral?" Hackett frowned a bit, but nodded his consent. "If you had a part in these orders sir, I would duck and cover. Because when I find out who signed off on cancelling my shore leave, my well-deserved leave I might add, I'm going to be….irate."

For a second, she could have _sworn_ that Admiral Hackett cracked a small smile. The white hair Admiral never smiled. She wasn't even sure he could smile. She rubbed her eyes. She had to be seeing things.

"Duly noted, Major. I'll pass the warning alone to Captain Anderson."

Sleep deprived as she was, that statement still got her attention. She blinked in surprise. "Um, sir? Did I hear that correctly and that you said Captain Anderson? As in, Captain David Anderson?"

Admiral Hackett just looked at her, his face expressionless as he answered. "Yes Major, I do mean Captain David Anderson, N7. "

Admiral Hackett just looking at her with a bemused expression as she tried to work through the information overload. She finally just nodded. "I will be there sir. Is there anything else that I should know ahead of time?"

"That is all, Major. Give my regards to the Lieutenant Commander."

"Of course sir."

"Hackett out."

Rhia leaned back, her mind still trying to gather all the facts that had just been thrown at her as the terminal flashed the disconnection notice in front of her in glowing orange letters. Captain David Anderson was perhaps the most decorated Special Forces operative in the System's Alliance. She had heard some rumors that he was part of a joint-operation with the Turian Hierarchy, some kind of state of the art warship design, but she didn't know any details. Was that the _Normandy_? She mused over the possibilities as she sat there, thinking. She should go back to sleep, but it would almost not be worth the effort. She had already unpacked her gear, so would have to repack it all, as well as getting to the _Normandy _on time.

She signed, and pulled up her extranet messages, and shot a quick note to her Aunt, letting her know she wouldn't be able to meet her on Earth after all, and stood. She might as well pack if she was awake.

Five and half hours later, Rhia pulled her duffle up onto her shoulder as she stopped at the top of the ramp to Bay 3, and got her first look at the _SSV Normandy_. Rhia did not know much about starship design, or engineering in general for that matter, but even she could appreciate the sleek lines of the vessel. And while her orders had unsealed the classified files about the ship, she hadn't been able to do much more than glance at the schematics on the way over here.

From what she did see, the _SSV Normandy _was packed with state-of-the-art equipment, from the Tantalus Drive Core, a prototype mass effect core that was large enough to power a small crusier, to the experimental Stealth System.

The last item had really drawn her attention her attention. The Stealth System of the Normandy didn't actually cloak the frigate, like the vids always showed, but it did the next best thing: complete erased the _Normandy _drive emissions. Most sensors detected heat emissions as the primary way to tracking ships in space, along with radio waves, and LADAR. The Stealth Drive muted and damped that variety of emissions, scattering them so the _Normandy_ just faded into the background noise of space, at least in theory. You could spot it if you looked out the window, but the sensors would be completely blind.

She didn't know what the Normandy's primary purpose was, but it presented a lot of interesting possibilities, from a tactical perspective. She would love being able to drop in behind enemies, completely undetectable. And with a ship the size of the Normandy, it's hold could easily hold a Mako, the tank and troop transport vehicle of choice for the System'S Alliance. That would be a hilarious surprise on a covert mission if things went south.

A few other people made their way past her, loading supplies onto the ship with practiced efficiency, and she started down the ramp again, watching the buzzing of activity, glancing at the piles of equipment that were being shuffled into the _Normandy_.

_An aweful lot of gear for a shakedown run._ She mused to herself as she turned, heading for the airlock on the side, passing a few technicians talking quietly. She nodded at them as she passed, and pressing to one side, and paced down onto the airlock, and waited for it to cycle as the sensors beeped at her.

"Major Shepard is aboard, Lieutenant Moreau stands relieved." Intoned the Normandy Virtual Intelligence, and the airlock opened, voices greeting her.

"Hey Commander, I think the VI's got a few kinks that need worked out. " Came a voice from the helm. She rounded the corner just in time to see the Flight Lieutentant, almost certainly the primary helmsman, levering himself into the seat gingerly. "Unless you decided to go and get a promo –" He stopped mid-sentence as he finished settling himself and turned to look over shoulder, his face settling into a mask of confusion. "Uh….sorry." His eyes glanced to the officer bars on her uniform. " Major. I uh, guess the VI is working properly. I think."

Rhia raised an eyebrow at him. "Does it always announce who's coming aboard?"

"Only when there is a change in command ma'am. You are the highest ranked officer currently on the Normandy."

"That makes sense I suppose, I've just never run into that before." She frowned. "Who did you think I was, Lieutenant?"

"The X.O. . Commander John Shepard. Which, if the VI didn't screw up is going to really mess with me if you both just go by your last name." Joker said. Rhia froze in place, as Joker continued. "I mean, it won't be hard to tell you apart, because I mean um, you are-"

Rhia raised one hand to stop him. "Flight Lieutenant, I have had about 3 hours of sleep, and not enough coffee. Are we talking about Commander Shepard, as in Lieutenant Commander Johnathan Shepard. Foot and half taller than me, brown eyes, scar on his left temple?"

"Um Yes, ma'am. That is him." The helmsman gave her a sideways look. "Why?" He drew the last word out in a drawl of confusion.

Rhia pinched the bridge of her nose, but couldn't help but smile at the same time.. "Because if he's the one that got my shore-leave canned, I'm going to put serious thought into throwing him out the airlock." The other man just stared at her, clearly not sure if she was joking or not. She sighed. It was too early. "Never mind. Just…wait, I'll be back. Don't go running off anywhere, I have some questions.."

The helmsman's expression darkened, and he looked like he was about to say something further, but she turned and strode down the main deck of the _Normandy_, looking for somewhere to drop her bag and gear. She settled for stowing it at the back of the room, settling it next to the last console on one side, before walking back to the helm, and the glare of the helmsman who's name she still didn't know. She sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose as she stepped around so he wouldn't have to crane his neck around to see her.

Which was when she noticed the dark metal braces on both of his legs.

Rhia felt her face heat up, suddenly understanding why her simple remark had elicited the black glare she was receiving now. The young lieutenant couldn't run at all. Her simple off-hand comment, not intended to offend, had to seem completely callous. "Flight Lieutenant, I think I owe you an apology. I didn't see, and I came across as a complete bitch just now. "

He glared at her for a moment longer, and she felt her embarrassment upgrade from "extreme" to "Kill me now.". _Great way to start out a new tour, piss off the guy who's in charge of how long it wil take to get picked up out of a hot zone…._

His expression softened slightly and he sighed. "You are either the best damn actress I have ever met, or you really didn't notice, because your cheeks are just about the same color as your hair." He shook his head. "Try this again? " She nodded sharply, wishing to move on as fast as possible. He offered his hand." Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, though everyone calls me Joker."

She took his hand in a quick shake. "Major Rhia Llewelyn-Shepard, Chief of Ground Operations, or so my orders say."

"Ground Operations Commander? This is a shake-down run." Joker's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Rhia just shrugged. "My orders came from Admiral Hackett. At about midnight last night."

"Ouch. And that…makes no sense."

"When a fleet admiral calls you and tells you to get on the ship, you kind of end up getting on the ship." She remarked dryly, some of her composure recaptured, and leaned against the console on one side.

Moreau shook his head. "I guess so."

A voice she knew but couldn't place crackled over the radio _+Joker, did the VI just say that Major Shepard was aboard? What gives?+_

Joker reached over and hit a button on the console in front of him. "VI's fine Alenko. Hackett apparently decided we needed another Shepard and found us a spare."

_+Uh, what?+_

Rhia mouthed "Alenko" trying to jog her memory. She knew that name, that voice, but from _where?_ It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't place it.

"The Major got assigned to tag along with us last night. I think she is wondering if it's a joke."

Suddenly it hit her, her face splitting into a wide grin. "Kaidan? LT is that you?"

_+Um, yes ma'am. I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage.+_

"Here on Arcturus, about 8 months ago. The elevator broke down. You, me and..." *she struggled for the name. " ...and that marine. Vega? Stuck for two hours in there before the repair crew sorted it out."

The man on the other end of the radio burst into laughter. _+Oh god, I still can't look at eggs without hearing him talk about his grandmothers cooking. What are you doing here? I thought you said something about working with ITC?+_

"Got back yesterday, was due for leave, and someone changed their mind at the last minute and stuck me here."

_+Well, glad to have you aboard ma'am"_

" Thanks LT."

_+No problem. Alenko out." _

No sooner had the radio clicked off, Joker punching the disconnect when the the airlock hissed open, and the _Normandy _VI chimed again. "Commander Shepard is aboard. Major Shepard stands relieved." Rhia turned and pushed off the console. She couldn't keep herself from smiling as she heard John's steps pause for a second.

"Joker, any idea what is up with the VI this morning?"

Joker rolled his eyes at the repeat question "The VI is fine, but you have some explaining to do to our new Chief of Ground Operations. I think the word 'airlock' was previously mentioned.

The look of shock as John stepped around the corner was priceless. Rhia, still smiling, snapped a sharp salute, holding it. "Major Rhiannon Shepard, reporting as ordered, Sir."

Commander John Shepard just stared at the woman in front of him. Her bright red hair was cut to just above her shoulders, and blue-grey eyes sparkled. She was short, topping out at just over 5'2, but for that she was lean, almost all muscle. She dropped the salute and crossed her arms, and looked up at him, grinning.

"Alright, you didn't do it, or you would have had the good sense to be wearing armor right now."

"Do…what?" He said cautiously.

"Get my shore leave cancelled." She said lightly, her eyes intent on him, lips still quirked in a little smile. "Good to see you John."

John tried to work through the barrage of information,. "Yeah, I don't exactly have a death wish." Rhia handed him the datapad she had been holding and he scanned down it. Her transfer orders, signed by Admiral Hackett. "Um, well, welcome aboard Major. It's good to see you. I see you've met our helmsman, Joker."

"We um, yes." She stumbled a bit, and John felt one of his eyebrows creep up as he leaned and looked at Joker.

"She cute when she's embarrassed." Sniped Joker with a smirk.

John tried to stay stoic, but as Rhia sighed and put one hand over her face his control broke. She mumbled through her hand, "Alright, alright, I said I was sorry, we said we would start over. Let's not dwell please."

"If you think that's good, you should see her when she's angry." Joker snickered and gave an approving thumbs up from behind Rhia, who peaked from behind her hand to glare in mostly mock anger at him.

"ANYWAY." Rhia said, her voice raising slightly to emphasize the change in topic. "As I was saying before, I was assigned to the _Normandy_ last night, my leave was cancelled. I've been assigned as Chief of Ground Operations, which I honestly have no idea what exactly that means, but I assume it means I am supposed to tell you and Captain Anderson what we should be doing on any missions that involve not being on the _Normandy_. Considering who we are talking about, that more than a little funny to me, as I just got done teaching tactics that Captain Anderson came up with to a bunch of recruits at ITC." She paused. "Oh, Admiral Hackett said to give you his regards."

"You got your orders straight from Hackett?"

"On vidcom at about ten till midnight last night. " She said dryly as she nodded. "I was too tired to think it through too hard, but now? I'm wondering who the joke is on." She shrugged. "Either way, I need to get settled in. Care to give me the rundown of where everything is in here? I have access to the files, but I haven't had a chance to do more than glance at the schematics."

"Sure. Joker, let us know when Anderson arrives please?"

"Aye aye Commander. Major, was nice to meet you. "

"You too Flight Lieutenant." She called over shoulder one should, and together the two friend's walked down the main deck, teasing each other as they went. Just like old times…

* * *

**_Author's Note:_**_ And Chapter 1! Hope you all enjoy it. I'm going to be busy this weekend, but hopefully should have Chapter 2 up and readable by Sunday.  
_

_A note about the Ranks: When I first wrote this segment and into Chapter 2/3/4 I started both Rhia and John as Commanders. That RAPIDLY got out of hand, and it became apparent it would be impossible to keep the two of them the same rank and have it be remotely readable, so I had to make a few changes from what I had planned. Hopefullly it works out._

_EDIT 7:45PM - Somehow when this was getting transferred, it copied the contents of the chapter not once, but three times. Should be corrected now, sorry about that ._


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – **

_Location: Milky Way, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus–  
__SSV Normandy – En-route to: Eden Prime_

The speakers of the _SSV Normandy_ gave a little pop as they echoed through the ships CIC. +_The Arcturus Prime Relay is in range. Initiating transmission sequence.+_

The _Normandy's_ Executive Officer paced past the holographic display showing the sleek lines of the System Alliance Frigate, it's readouts showing the Mass Effect Core building in preparation for the jump through the Relay. John nodded in acknowledgement as he passed one of the bridge crew, a lieutenant he didn't recognize as he made his way to the cockpit, and its pilot. Even through the inertial dampeners, he could feel the ship start to build up speed. He made it to the cockpit as Joker made his final check.

"We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination. The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transit." John stepped to one side, and braced himself gently against the back wall out of habit. Have lived about one starship or another all his life, Relay jumps were practically second nature.

He took a moment as Joker started his approach and glanced around the cockpit, taking in the now slightly crowded space. Joker was at the helm, assisted by Lieutenant Alenko. Kaidan wasn't a pilot, but he had enough training that he could double check Joker's calculations for the Relay jump, as well as monitoring the Normandy's electrical systems. The Chief Engineer, Adams, had said something about sluggish control, but needed most of his crew in engineering monitoring the core, so Kaidan had been drafted.

The one that really drew most of his attention though, was the most recent passenger. Nihlus was a turian, which provoked mixed feelings in many humans, thought John really wasn't among them. The Turians were first alien race that the Earth System Alliance had met, and it hadn't been friendly, resulting the very brief First Contact War, before the Citadel Council brokered peace, and put humanity in contact with the rest of the galaxy. Nihlus was a little taller than the average turian, standing about 6'3, and while they were as a race, avian, they bore little resemblance to birds as humans knew them. He knew it was something to do with their suns radiation penetrating their home planets magnetic field to a greater degree, but the fact that Turian as a race had evolved a metallic carapace that covered their body meant that the first race humanity had learned about was more than a little shocking. While militaristic though, they were not all openly hostile, as the construction of the _Normandy_ could attest to. It was a joint effort at designing a starship between the System's Alliance and The Turian Hierarchy, and he knew that everyone who had been aboard was looking forward to seeing what it could do.

He turned his gaze on the last person in the small space and smiled again. The universe it seemed, had a sense of humor. Rhia had a grip on the back of Joker's seat, her other hand braced against the ceiling. She glanced back at him, a quick grin spread across her face in response to his before she looked back, rocking back and forth in anticipation of the jump through the relay. Colony brat that she was, this was always exciting to her, even after all the time she had spent on the _Einstein. _ She had napped for a few hours while Joker and the rest of the crew had gone through the pre-flight and shake down cruise before the relay jump, and now the tired express was entirely gone, replaced by excitement. He couldn't help but think it looked good on her.

"The board is green. Approach run has begun. Hitting the relay in three... two... one..." Joker's countdown brought his focus back to the relay, its double rings whirling faster in their gyroscopic pattern inside the relay arms as they received the telemetry from the Joker's helm. And then with a shudder, energy from the relay grabbed the small frigate and flung them into the space.

There was a lurch both as it began and then just as abruptly ended. A lot of people found jumps through a relay disorienting the first few times, but he had grown up on starships, and barely noticed the feeling. He folded his arms, and just watched as Joker ran through his checklist.

"Thrusters... check. Navigation... check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift... just under 1500K."

Nihlus's distinct voice echoed through the cockpit. "Fifteen hundred is good. Your Captain will be pleased." The Turian nodded, first at Rhia then as he saw him, the Spectre gave him one as well before pacing carefully down the foreword section of the warship.

A moment later, when Joker apparently gauged the Spectre was out of earshot, he rolled his eyes at Kaidan and looked back at the two senior officers. "I hate that guy."

Kaidan shot him a look of genuine incredulity that he couldn't keep from his voice. "He gave you a compliment, so you hate him."

Joker turned to look at the other man. "You remember zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. That's incredible. Besides, Spectre's are trouble. I don't like having him onboard. Call me paranoid."

The other man obliged him. "You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

Joker snorted. "Yeah, that's the official story. "* He emphasized his point with his hands, making air quotes. "But only an idiot believes the official story."

John shook his head. "You always expect the worst. I think this time you over-reacting a bit."

Joker shot back without hesitation. "Well, bad feelings are an occupational hazard. We don't go anywhere unless there's a good reason, so what are we doing here." He waved his hand at the viewport. The Exodus Cluster was on the fringe of the Terminus Systems, the edge of Council space. Their destination was the System's Alliance colony on Eden Prime, where they were supposed to test the FTL, sensors, as well as the new prototype stealth system.

Rhia spoke up. "I think I have to agree with Joker on this one, John. I'm pretty sure it's not standard procedure to send Spectre's on shakedown runs. " She had turned to lean back against the empty co-pilot chair to Joker's left, so she could see the rest of them. "Members of the Council's Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Division normally have other things more pressing to do, I think. And did you see all the gear they loaded this morning? Or that fact that I'm here?"

Again with a hand wave to accentuate his point, Joker drawled in a matter-of-fact tone, "So, there is more going on here."

The com popped. _+Joker! Status report!+_

"We just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems are in the green and ready to engage on your order. Everything looks solid. "

_+Good. Find a comm buoy and link into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime. +_

"Aye aye Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is heading your way." John shook his head. Joker hadn't really tried to keep the tone out of his voice.

The Captain had apparently heard it too. Anderson's irritation seemed to bristle through the comlink. _+He's already here, Lieutenant. Tell Commander Shepard, and Major Shepard I want to see them both in the comm room for a debriefing.+_ The connection cut off with that. He looked down at Joker, still shaking his head.

"You two get that?"

Rhia pushed herself up. "We're on the way. " John let her pass him before falling in step with her as they left the cockpit. Behind them, he could hear Joker and Kaidan continue to banter.

Joker looked over at Kaidan. "Is it just me, or does the Captain always sound a little pissed off?"

The marine deadpanned. "Only when he's talking to you, Joker."

He tried to his own smirk, and nearly lost it as he saw Rhia as she tried to hide her's. "They bicker like an old married couple." She murmured when they were out of earshot.

"I think Joker is that way with everyone." He said as they stepped back past the CIC, and rounded the corner to the communications room together. "Joker is a bit cocky, but some time you'll have to ask him how he got the helmsman position for the Normandy."

Rhia raised an eyebrow, but didn't press further, and she punched the button, the communications doors opening with a small hiss. He felt himself almost come to a stop in surprise. Rhia next time him had the same reaction, her step stuttering for a half second before they continued in, the door closing behind them.

The Turian Spectre looked up from the console he had been studying at them both. "Ah, Commander, Major. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."

John glanced over at Rhia, who mirrored his look before she spoke up. "I thought the Captain was meeting us here." Her voice with a soldier's perfect measured response, just enough respect, deference to someone that outranked them. But under all that, was a tiny undercurrent of steel too. Nihlus looked over them both. "He's on his way." Was all he said, he studied them. John finally broke the silence.

"What do you want to talk to us about?"

Nihlus three fingered talon-hands flashed on the console, and the main screen flashed up with a display of a green and verdant looking world. "I'm interested in this world we are going to-Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."

"I wouldn't know sir, I've never been there."

"I have." Said Rhia. John glanced her in surprise. She shrugged "I had an Aunt there. It's where I moved after I left the _Einstein_." She turned back to the Turian. "It's a beautiful world. Some would call it a paradise compared to other colony worlds."

"Yes...a paradise. Serene, Tranquil. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it?"

John stayed quiet. Rhia's browed furrowed a bit. "I'm not sure I follow."

"It's more than just a tourist destination, isn't it? Eden Prime is a symbol of your people, a perfect little world on the edges of your territory." He turned and started to pace back and forth. At that exact moment, he looked every bit the predator bird. It gave John a startling chill. "It's proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it really. "

Rhia kept her tone level, but didn't hide the iron in her tone. "If you have something to say, say it." Apparently Nihlus caught it too, as he focused on her. She was nearly a full foot shorter than him, and probably less than 2/3rds of the Turian's weight, but abruptly the predator was facing her with more of a degree of respect than he had a moment before.

"Your people are still newcomers, Commander. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?"

He cleared his throat. "Yes. We are." Nihlus locked eyes on him now, calculating, evaluating, and judging. Nihlus shrugged, the motion suddenly breaking the predatory stance he had been holding up till that point. It was startlingly human motion, something that seemed extremely odd coming from the Turian.

The door behind them slid open, as Captain Anderson broke up the odd conversation. "Good, you are all here. I think Nihlus, that it's time we explain what is really going on here. Have a seat Commander, Major. This could take a moment."

Nihlus nodded at Captain Anderson. "I agree, Captain. " He looked at the two junior officers. "This is more than a simple shakedown run."

Wryly, he looked over at Rhia. "Some of us already gathered that. Care to fill us in?"

Anderson sat down opposite of them, where he could see the both. "We are making a covert pickup on Eden Prime. This comes down from the top, strictly on a need-to-know basis."

Rhia piped up. "What's the payload? It's got to be either important or dangerous, if not both if a Spectre is in on it."

Anderson nodded. "Possibly both. We don't know for certain yet, but we aren't taking an chances. Three standard days ago, a research team on Eden Prime unearth some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean."

John felt his won eyes widen even as, Rhia's surprised intake of breath marked her surprise as well. The Protheans had vanished nearly 50,000 years ago. They had built the Citadel, the Mass Relays that allowed travel to the far reaches of the galaxy, even the standard ship drives like the one powering the _Normandy_, all were based off Prothean relics and technology. They had been the most advanced race in the galaxy, and they had vanished, leaving only traces for other races to find. Humanity had discovered a Prothean archive on Mars, and it had shot humanities technology ahead nearly 200 years at least.

"What do we know about it? Is there anything else you can tell us? "He asked his Captain cautiously. Anderson only shook his head.

Nihlus was the one that spoke instead. "Any find like this has always resulted in huge advances, even among the Council races. But your colony on Eden Prime doesn't have the capabilities or facilities to handle the analysis this will require. The Citadel does however. This goes beyond just humanities interests, Commander. This discovery could affect us all."

Everyone was quiet for a moment as they took it in. Nihlus finally made a noise that he thought was probably the turian equivalent of clearing his throat. "The beacon is not the only reason I am here." John and Rhia both shot looks over to Anderson. The Captain watched them expectantly as he started to speak.

"Nihlus is also here to evaluate you. Both of you."

"Um, excuse me? Sir." He asked, trying to keep the shock out of his voice. "Evaluate us for what?" He knew the answer before he finished his question, but Rhia beat him to it.

"You are evaluating us as candidates for the Spectre's. You want one of us to be humanities first Spectre. "

Nihlus and Anderson shared a look. Anderson had the ghost of a smile now. "I told you they would work it out before you could tell them."

"Indeed." Nihlus turned back to them. "The Alliance been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy and the Spectre's represent the Council's power and authority. It we were to accept a human into our ranks, it could be interpreted as a sign of how far you have come as a race." He looked over at John. "We had been watching you for a while, even before your mission to Akuze. Thresher Maws may be something that many races know to avoid and what signs to for. Without that knowledge and warning they are more than deadly, however. You showed a remarkable will to live, a particularly useful talent. Combine that with your previous training and your record as a marksman, you could be a valuable member of the Spectre's."

Nihlus turned to Rhia. "I must confess that you had originally slipped under our radar, at least until your efforts during the Skyllian Blitz. I must say, I reviewed some of the footage that was recovered during the attack. The reports were not wrong when it says that you nearly singlehandedly held the line. I've seen Asari Commando's that couldn't have done what you did."

Rhia coughed a bit as she answered, looking away. "Um, thank you." Belated she added, "Sir." John could see her cheeks turning a bit pink as she blushed.

Rhia hated all the publicity she had received about the Blitz, he knew. She never liked all the attention, and she thought the statue they had erected was more than a bit much. As far as she was concerned, there were better things to be thankful for. Normally he would have smiled at her discomfort, but the memories of Akuze were...extremely vivid. Having Nihlus so casually recall them was more than a little troubling.

"You two both showed not just courage, but incredible skills. Skill we can use. That's why I put both of you forward as prospective candidates for the Spectres. "Both of the human soldiers snapped their full attention back to Nihlus.

"Wha-"

"You-"

They started and both stopped. Nihlus continued sounding amused. "Not all turians resent humanity. Some of us see the potential of your species. We see what you have to offer to the rest of the galaxy...and to the Spectres. We are an elite group. It's rare to find one individual with the skills we seek. Finding two at nearly the same time is unheard of. I don't care that you are human. I only care that you can get the job done."

John crossed his arms and looked over at Captain Anderson. "I assume this also good for the alliance." The older man nodded.

"Earth needs this. We are counting on you. One or both of you."

"So...it's not an either or thing? You could choose both of us?" Piped up Rhia, rocking back and forth just barely in her chair.

Anderson looked up at Nihlus. The turian just nodded. "I need to see your skills for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together. I will be observing your progress, tactics, and decisions. Captain Anderson assures me you both are more than capable, and from your files, I am inclined to agree. However, reports are not seeing. "His mandibles twitched. "Seeing is believing, I believe is the human saying."

"You will be in charge of the ground team for this mission, Commander. The Major is your second. I assume that there is no reason from your past experiences together to make that an issue?" He looked between them.

Rhia answered before he could, her blue-grey eyes gleaming in a sudden impish humor. "I'll keep him in line, sir."

Nihlus looked at them both. "I was unaware you two were affiliated prior to this. Your records make no mention of it."

John shook his head. "Official records wouldn't. We have been friends for a long time is all. We have never actually served together."

Rhia's smile had faded, and she spoke a little quieter. "It's not something that will affect our ability to accomplish our mission, sir." She paused. "I…met John just after Mindoir. The _SSV Einstein_ was part of the battle-group that responded to the attack. He was helping with the wounded when they brought me aboard. We stayed in touch."

"Ah…I had not put those details together." Nihlus looked like he was thinking. "Well, if you say it will not make a difference on either of your performances, I will take your word on it. Until you give me reason to think otherwise." His gaze was pointed, but calm. "Understood, Sir." They both answered. John paused for a second thinking. "Sir, if I might ask, why did the Alliance wait to send the Normandy? Surely there is another ship that was closer to Eden Prime than we were, or not in dry dock. "

"We didn't want to risk moving it. Any prothean technology is important. All advanced galactic civilization is based on it. If we hadn't discovered the Prothean ruins buried on Mars, we'd still be stuck on earth, and that was a small data cache. Who knows what we can learn from this beacon. And if it's something like say, a weapons archive? We can't let it fall into the wrong hands."

Rhia shook her head. "No pirates are well enough connected to both know about the beacon and be able to fight the cruiser sent to retrieve it. "

"But someone from the Terminus Systems might. " Anderson said.

"Eden is in the Attican Traverse though. The Traverse is under Citadel Protection, if the Terminus Systems attack it would be an act of war." John counted. "They wouldn't risk it. I have seen the projections before sir, the Turian Fleet would be more than a match, and that doesn't include our own, or any of the other Council fleets."

"Technically, yes. But some of the species in the Terminus might be willing to start a war over this. The Batarian Hegemony for example." Stated Nihlus. "The last thing the Council wants is to be dragged into a major conflict with the Terminus Systems. Which is why we wanted the _Normandy_."

Rhia's suddenly got it. "The stealth systems. The Normandy is state-of-the-art, and the only ones who have even remotely capable chance of detecting us while we are running dark is the Salarians, and they are on our side."

Nihlus nodded his approval. "Exactly. Attacking a lone ship to get the beacon would be one thing. Attacking a full colony to get it would be another matter entirely. And we plan to be in, get the beacon, and get out before anyone can stop us. And once we have it, they will never catch us."

Anderson turned to face them both, a smile of approval on this lips. "Go check your gear Commander, Major. We should be getting close to Eden –"

The shipboard speakers cut Anderson off as Joker's voice crackled through. _+Captain! We have a problem.+ _

Everyone in the room tensed. "What's wrong Joker?" Anderson asked carefully..

Even Joker sounded worried, and he was normally all sarcasm and snark, John noted. _+Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this. I'm patching it through.+ _

Anderson stood and brushed past Nihlus to the controls for the Communication Room's main display. The Spectre took a step back as John stood and moved closer to get a better look. Rhia had done the same, standing on the Turian's other side.

The transmission flashed on the screen, static cutting off half of the words, the images periodically flashing to black and white digital garbage. But what John could make out set his teeth on edge. A marine, the squad's communication officer was bent over whatever portable comm unit he was using. Around him, Systems Alliance Marines were firing, the sound of their rifles unmistakable even through the static. "-Under attack! Taking heavy casualties, I repeat, heavy…We can't…..-need evac! They came out of nowhere. We need –"  
"Get down!" A woman's voice cut through. Her warning came too late, as multiple rounds struck the officer using the comm unit, sending him pitching forward. The marine who had tried to warn him slid to his side, checked his vitals, even as she kept firing at some enemy just out of visual range of the camera. "Fall back! Get to the trees!" She shouted, as she leapt forward and away. Something dark hurtled overhead, as a terrible grinding shriek cut through the audio, then everything went dead.

Joker's voice came back on. _+Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. __There's nothing.+_

Rhia shot him a worried look. It was hard to blanket a colony the size what Eden Prime was supposed to be with any kind of jamming, let alone one that cut it off completely.

"Reverse and hold at thirty-eight point five." Anderson told Joker. The video feed wound backward, halting on the image the Captain had asked for.

Whatever it was, it was massive. Dark purple or black metal of some kind, with three massive arm-like protrusions jutting out from the bow of what had to be an unidentified kind of ship. Land struts maybe or some kind of weapon emplacement? Arcs of energy played along the hull, red shimmers of the ships kinetic barriers. A ship, and one large enough to rival alliance crusiers, or maybe even a dreadnaught. And entirelyi unlike anything he had seen before.

Anderson's gaze stayed on the strange vessel, cool and calm.. "Status report."

_+We are a little over 17 minutes out. No other alliance ships in the area.+ _

"Take us in Joker, fast and quiet. " Anderson looked over his shoulder. "Get suited up you two. Grab Alenko and Jenkins as well. You are going in there."

John snapped a salute but didn't wait for it be returned before he turned toward the door, his feet echoing on the floor plating. By the sound of it, Rhia was on his heels. "I'll get Alenko. We'll meet you down there in five." She said as she cut past him, heading back up to the cockpit, not waiting on him to respond. He turned and headed for the elevator. It was going to be a interesting first mission.

* * *

Rhia half-jogged, half-ran to the cockpit, even as Joker's voice echoed over the ships loudspeakers. "Stand by for running quiet. Stealth Systems active in 3…2….1…"

Around her, the ambient lighting in the ship dimmed to something that made her think of evening, just after the sun had gone down, but before the all light had faded, everything taking on a ambient shade of orange from the glow of the holographic controls from the various stations in the forward section. Kaidan was already standing as she caught herself on the door. "You heard? "

"Yes ma'am. "

"Bring me back a souvenir. Maybe a nice prothean whatchamacallit." Called Joker as they turned to go.

"I'll see what I can do." She called back to him as she turned, heading back the way she had come, Kaidan on her heels. "Anything I need to know yet, ma'am?"

She settled for shaking her head as she responded. "You know as much as I know right now. The video was so garbled that we didn't get a visual on who was attacking, just that it was ongoing. It looked bad though."

The Lieutenant nodded. They turned, moving down the stairs, the half turn bringing them back around and down the second deck, right in front of the elevator to engineering and the hanger and armory. She bounced in place, nervous energy and excitement. She always got like this before any Op. The fact they were going in against something unknown. She jerked, suddenly remembering something and swore outloud "Hold the elevator, I'll be right back."

Kaidan shot her a confused look as she dove back around the corner at almost a dead run, making for the personal lockers. She reached them, and fumbled with her passcode for a second before yanking it open, and yanking the tags off the hook on the inside, their blueish white metal glimmering softly, before sprinting back. The elevator had arrived, and Kaidan was dutifully holding it for her as she slid inside. She panted for a half second. "Thanks. I almost forgot…never mind. Just thanks."

He shot her a look that screamed "Are you a crazy person and do I need to call security" but obliged by punched the button to take them to the deck below. The door closes slowly, and she took a second to slip the tags over her head and tuck them under shirt. Kaidan didn't comment further, and paced behind her as they moved to the corner of the cargo bay where the small armory was sequestered. John was already there. She stopped. Commander Shepard. It was hard to think of him like that, she had been his friend for far too long, but here and now he would in the charge of the mission.

The other marine, Lieutenant Jenkins, was already half way into his body armor, a hard-suit designed to protect the wearer from both atmospheric conditions as well as in combat. She frowned as she looked at the gear. "That doesn't look like standard gear."

"It's not. Alliance Command broke out some of the good stuff for us." Said John. He flipped over the chest piece, revealing the distinctive N7 blazoned on the shoulder "Onyx design. Kinetic barriers are better, armor's more solid. It's heavier though."

She stepped up, getting a good look at it. "Not sure I like my gear getting swapped out without warning."

"Wasn't my call, but I'll take it in this case. Yours is over there." He points at the next locker down. Rhia clicked it open, revealing another pair of the matte-black armor, the N7 on the shoulder. She smiled a bit to herself as she looked at it before pulling it out, and started changing to put it on.

Several minutes later, she was clicking the last seals on the body armor. It was heavier than she was used to, but it was fitted right. She grimaced as she twisted armored gloves as she touched the back of her head. "Kaidan, could you check my AMP? I should have before I put the gloves on."

"Sure, one sec." She turned and pulled her hair back away. She took a second to look over the rest as she waited for him.

John was fully suited, his helmet on the table as he checked the scope on the sniper rifle in his hands. He already had a pistol holstered to his side, a shotgun magnetically strapped to the small of his back. She noted at least two knives as well, and she suspected he probably had more than that. Jenkins was outfitted almost the same, though in placed of the sniper rifle, he held a more standard Avenger-style assault rifle.

Kaidan's hand was cool on the back of her neck, his fingers running gently over the implant, checking the seals on the small metal cylinder that overlaid her biotic amp. She shivered at the touch, the feeling tingling down her spine. Any AMP is sensitive to touch. Anyone who had them added later in life like she had, were almost twice as much so. "Looks good."

"Thanks." She glanced back over her shoulder at him with a quick grin.

"Any time." The other biotic marine nodded at her, he dark hair shaking into his eyes for a second before he brushed it away, a calm smile on face. It was...a good look on him, she decided idly. She quickly shoved the thought away though. She had to focus on the task at hand.

She reached over, picking up her pistol, checked the thermal clip and holstered it, checking her shotgun and rifle, and securing her spare thermal clips at her waist. She touched the pistol and checked the strap securing it to her thigh, and clicked the thermal clip in her rifle out where she could see it's charge.

The gravelly voice of Nihlus warbling tones cut through the quiet sounds of conversation, weapons checks, and the last clicks of armor being fitted on. "Captain Anderson says we will be on site momentarily." He stepped past Jenkins and keyed a code into the last locker, unsealing it to reveal what was probably his personal weapons: a side arm of some design she didn't recognize, a shotgun that was almost a mirror of her own, and a knife that could probably double as a machete. Nihlus strapped the gear on as he looked over each of them with a critical eye.

"You're coming with us?" Asked Jenkins, looking at the Turian. He sounded bit awed. Rhia really couldn't blame him. She might have as well, if she hadn't had the bombshell about the beacon dropped on her already.

"I move faster on my own. I'll drop in ahead of you, radio back what I find. "Was his response. His gaze moved to Rhia and then to John, lingering for a moment on them both. She knew what he wasn't saying. He wanted to watch them work, regardless of the situation, but he didn't want the others to know. Not yet.

Behind them, the elevator rumbled down almost silently again, this time revealing Captain Anderson. Rhia clicked the thermal clip on her rifle back into place and turned to face him.

"We'll be over the colony in moments." He looked over at John. "Your team is the muscle in this operation, Commander. Go in heavy, head straight for the dig site and secure the beacon. "

"What about survivors, Captain." questioned Kaidan.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority. Do what you can, but get that beacon secured from whomever attack the colony."

The quiet mumbles of "yes sir" from the four soldiers followed that pronouncement.

_+Approaching drop point one. Somebody was doing some serious digging here, Captain.+ _

"Acknowledged, Joker. Open the bay door."

At his word, the cargo bay door swung open, blasting the all with a burst of warm humid air. Rhia rocked back on her heels for a moment against the sudden pressure, before snatching her helmet and sealing it in place. A couple of moments later, the heads-up display kicked on the seals on her armor connected, and power ran up through her armor as all the systems came on line. Technically, the helmets had their own individual power sources, but they charged off the kinetic shielding on the hard suit.

She looked out over Eden Prime as the Normandy slowed rapidly to a graceful hover over a small clearing in the trees. Nihlus nodded to the rest of them. "I'll see you on the ground, Commander. Major. Good hunting." With those last words, he took two long strides that carried him into space, dropping nearly 10 meters to the ground, his own armor cushioning his landing, before he moved under cover of the trees, and out of their line of sight.

Rhia gave one last check of her rifle. This was it. The Normandy picked up speed for a second moving to a patch of open ground that overlooked part of the colony from a raised cliff. Joker's voice was barely audible over the sound of rushing wind and the rumble of the Normandy's engines.

_+"Approaching drop point two. Go get them, guys. And girl."+_

"I want you to keep radio silence as much as possible. Nihlus will feed you status reports as he can, but other than that, keep it quiet until the beacon is secured and ready for us to pick up." Shouted Anderson, looking them up and down, a subtle expression of approval cross his features

"Yes sir!" Came John's return shout.

"The missions yours, Shepard. Good luck. "

She tossed her own nod to Anderson as the four of them stormed forward, jumping the much more reasonable fall of a four or five meters to land on the cliff edge.

And with that, the ground team for the Normandy dove out into space, dropping the few feet to Eden Prime.

* * *

_**Author Note:** __So, I got bored with what I was doing and decided to power edit my way through the next chapter. Hopefully I didn't miss any glaring errors, and this goes better than the last chapter upload XD Please feel free to PM me with any corrections that I might have missed and i'll sort it out ASAP._

_Also, let me know what you all think. This story is not completely set in stone, and I'm open to suggestions. I've got some very firm ideas about some things, but others are...very mutable, and am willing to take opinions. _

_Chapter 3 may be up this weekend, it may not. Soon, I promise._


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Location: Milky Way, Exodus Cluster, Utopia System – _

_Eden Prime – 2 miles outside of the Main Colony_

Rhia mused as she watched the _Normandy_ rise into the atmosphere "You know, if he's going to call you Shepard, we are going to have to find a way to differentiate each other. I'd prefer to not get yelled at for you did wrong."

"What I did wrong? Who's idea was it to 'borrow' that shuttle?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. " She lied.

The small team laughed at the banter from the two officers, cutting the tension for a moment before John became serious again. "Move up, advance by twos. Major, after you."

It took them nearly fifteen minutes of prowling through the underbrush toward the colony before they located signs of conflict, despite the clipped transmission from Nihlus stating there were hostiles everywhere. The spectre didn't give any more information than that, and she quivered with the need to be in motion. Abstractly, she knew part of it was being a biotic. She naturally had a higher metabolism, and she knew that it certainly wasn't helping her nerves. Not knowing what was going on making her fidgety. Finding it was almost worse though.

Jenkins whispered in horror. "God, what happened here?"

She leaned out from behind the tree, getting a good look at the fallen marines. This was probably part of the group that had managed to get the distress signal off, though she didn't see anyone from the feed, or any communication gear. She held her rifle ready sighting down it, noting John and Kaidan had taken up positions on her left, both of their respective rifles ready as well.

Ten Systems Alliance marines lay on the field in front of her, unmoving. Considering the the amount of blood she could see from here, almost certainly none alive. And not a single sign of who had killed them. She panned around, scanning the opposing tree line, but could see nothing that gave a hint of danger.

John's hand wave got her attention. He pointed first at Jenkins, and then her, waving them forward. She nodded, and looked over to Jenkins to make sure he had gotten the same signal. Jenkins was already stepping out of cover before she started to move, his rifle raised. She stood from her crouch to follow when a whining shriek cut the air, echoing through the clearing, even as her HUD suddenly registered movement coming straight at them. She froze mid step, totally exposed from cover. Jenkins was worse, several steps from where he had started. She felt her heart rate spike from "tense" to "overdrive" in less than a second as she tried to back pedal.

"Jenkins, get down!" She shouted. He turned toward her, his eyes widening, in what seemed like exaggerated slowness, even as the small attack drones cleared the trees on the other side in blur of motion, spinning to stop. And then they opened fire.

_I am not going to make it. _ Was the only thought that came through her head, just before she felt something slam into her shields, driving her from her feet and into a roll that left her on her back. She gritted her teeth, yanked her rifle up and hammered down on the trigger, her weapon spraying as she tracked one of the drones from her position on the ground. It exploded in a satisfying shriek of metal. Another spun in the air, its gun turret tracking to her position to eliminate the threat that had just taken out its companion.

The resounding crack from John's rifle cut through the chattering fire from the drones, followed by a second explosion of metal and shrapnel in the air. The last drone buzzed back several meters, its cannon chewing suppressing fire all over John's sniper position. She got a glimpse of him as one of the shots clipped his shields and he hunkered down more behind the log he had selected as cover. She rolled over to behind the tree she had started behind, trying to figure out where everyone else was, her HUD flickering angrily.

The burring sound of another assault rifle echoed in quiet mockery of the drone's clearly larger weapon, and the last drone spun out of control to crash into a tree, courtesy of Alekno's marksmanship.

_Where was Jenkins? He should be right here, he should…._

Cold seeped over her as she looked out over the field. The marines of Eden Prime had been joined by a new member to their fallen ranks, and welcomed him with open arms.

She slowly stepped out from behind the tree, again, and made her way to where he had fallen. The drones had done their work well. No amount of Medi-gel would have helped him from those injuries, a half dozen shots that crossed his torso in an almost perfect pair of parallel lines. She heard the other two behind her after a moment, Kaidan kneeling next to her.

"Ripped right through his shields. He never had a chance…" she murmured.

John touched her shoulder. "We'll see he receives a proper service when the mission is done. But we need to go, we can't stay here." Rhia nodded, though her heart wasn't in it. She had seen plenty of people die on her side. She had killed more. She didn't have to like it.

Nihlus's voice cut in on the comm. _+I've got some burned out buildings here. A lot of bodies. I'm gona check it out. I'll catch up with you at the dig site.+ _

She didn't look back, but John's voice clicked onto the comm's. "Confirmed. " After a pause he added more quietly. "Jenkins is KIA." The Spectre's voice lost a bit of the harshness of his warbling tones. _+I'm sorry to hear that Commander. We will mourn his loss when we are able.+_

John heard him click his comm's in acknowledgment as he stepped up with her and they continued forward to where more enemies surely waited. They slipped forward in a roughly even line. A second group of marines, this time with civilians as well. All of them had been gunned down, and there was still no sign of the enemy that had killed them, not even drone remnants. It was a chilling tableau.

"John, whoever these are, tell me we are going to get them." She whispered quietly to him as she looked down at the body of a boy who couldn't have been older than fourteen.

"We will. It may not be today, but we will."

She didn't respond, but the tell-tale flicker of her biotics betrayed her anger as she clenched her fist

They crested the next hill, getting close to the dig site, or at least she hoped so. The whole area in front of them seemed to have been excavated, looking like part of a massive archeological dig like those they used to do back on earth. She started forward, standing to move down the hill, when Kaidan's hand caught her elbow pulling her back down into cover. She didn't see what he had, but she didn't fight him as he yanked her down next to him. John dropped to a prone position, aimed down the trench, responding to whatever Kaidan had seen. After a second he looked over at Kaidan, question in his eyes, clearly not spotting whatever danger was out there. Rhia turned over, twisting to look out as Kaidan peaked over the small rock outcropping.

"Sorry sir, ma'am. I swear I thought I saw another of those drones."

"Rather be in cover and not need it, than the other way around." Came John's reply, as he lowered the rifle and moved to stand.

"Stay down." Hissed Rhia as movement flickered in the trees. John dropped back prone. "I saw it too just now, there." She pointed as she spoke.

There it was. The soft whine of the drones shrieking engines, not running at full power. They were under the canopy, she realized, they couldn't do a full out burn cause of the trees, which meant…..

A woman in a white and red combat hard suit stumbled out of the trees on the far side of the ravine, letting momentum carry her faster down the incline, and away from the drones. She almost made it a rock outcropping jutting out of the middle of the ravine when the one of the drones shots clipped her, sending her staggering off balance to the ground. She turned as she fell, skidding across the ground. To her credit, even as the impact rattled her she managed to get one hand onto her side arm and yanked the large pistol free. The unknown marine shouted as she fired, in defiance or fear or both, and her first two shots went wide, but her next four crunched into first one drone, then the other, sending them screeching to crash in a shower of sparks as they shot past her. The mystery marine didn't waste time, but scrambled to her knees and ducking behind the rock outcropping as five humanoid figures came out of the trees she had run from.

Rhia stared. She had never seen anything like them. They were synthetics, she could tell that, but they didn't move like standard mechs. Every step was fluid, almost graceful. Three fingered hands gripped rifles, as their round single glowing optic "eye" panned around, seeking their quarry. All of them were taller than her by a good 6 to 8 inches, she guessed, but from this distance it was hard to tell. The synthetics stepped down, spreading out in a straight line and began pacing forward across he bowl of the ravine..

She was itching to get into range to use her biotics. That was where she excelled, but her range was limited, always had been. She could slam enemies with enough force to break bones, but she couldn't manage it at the ranges they were at now.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw John started counting down from five with one hand and she lined up a shot. As he let his last finger drop, she fired.

The burring of her Avenger-Assault Rifle was almost completely lost in the rapport from the sniper rifle. The sniper round punched clear through the optic photoreceptor on the center most synthetic, sending it down in a discordant warbling screech that was probably what passed for language to these things, white fluid spraying in a parody of blood.

Her own burst was not as efficient, but no less effective. A half dozen rounds struck it, overloading the shields, and she punched a trio of neat holes through the torso. It staggered, damaged, and one of it's arms dropped lifelessly to it's side. Kaidan's burst struck his target, but the synthetics shields held, the assault rifle rounds glancing off it harmlessly.

The return barrage from the synthetics was a tumultuous barrage of mass accelerated rounds that chewed the stone around them. The Synthetics advanced over the open ground, their fire synchronized so it was a constant stream of fire on their position in a way that only machines could coordinate. But machines didn't have instinct that might have saved them from enemy they didn't see. They were focused on ground team from the _Normandy_, so when they passed the rock the marine had hid herself behind they were completely unprepared for the hail of assault rifle fire. Both the one that Rhia had hit, and the next one in line went down in a hail of mass-accelerated bullets. The Synthetics barrage faltered, trying to evaluate which targets required immediate removal, and as one, the trio from the Normandy rose and retaliated, sending the last two down in further sprays of milky-white synthetic gore.

The colonial marine slumped in place, resting her gun on her knees as Rhia and the other two rose, and moved down to her. She eyed them tiredly as they moved over the rough ground to her. "Thanks for your help, sir. I didn't think I was going to make." She didn't stand, but she looked up at him and gave them a salute as John knelt down on one knee next to her. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here, sir?"

John nodded. "Are you wounded, Williams?"

She shook her head. "A few scraps and burns. Nothing serious, just really tired. The…others weren't so lucky."

"What's the status here?"

She closed her eyes as she talked, leaning her head back against the stone. "We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they jammed our communications somehow. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

"What happened to the rest of your squad?"

Ashley didn't answer for a second and Rhia started to wonder if she was going to. "I think I'm the only one left. We tried to double back to the beacon, but we walked right into an ambush. I know the Lieutenant went down. Me and two others managed to get out of the kill zone, and they sent drones after us. Martin and Adams didn't make it more than 30 meters into the trees before the drones caught them. "

"Do you know what these are? Who we are up against?" He looked away to eye one of the down synthetics.

"I….I think they are Geth, sir."

Rhia felt her eyebrows rise, even as Kaidan exclaimed. "The Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in nearly two hundred years. Why are they here now?"

Ashley just shrugged. "Guess is as good as mine, by if I had to pick, my money would be the beacon. We were here to secure it till someone could arrive to spirit it away. I assume it's safe to say that is what you are here for. "

John nodded. "Correct, Chief. Do you know where the beacon is?"

"Last I saw it, it was still in the dig site." She pointed back down the trench, where the ravine started to turn. "Straight over that rise, it's not far."

"If you are still able Chief, I want you to show us."

She nodded, and pushed herself up to at standing position. "Aye aye sir. It's time for some payback."

They slowly moved up the ravine, moving from cover to cover. Rhia looked over at Ashley and Kaidan before asking "Someone want to give me a rundown on the Geth? I'm pretty much coming up blank on the memory front, other than Synthetic boogey man."

Ashley chimed in quietly as she stepped around a larger chunk of debris. "Only things I remember are from my history classes back in high school. They're synthetics. Non-organic life forms, with limited AI programing. They were created by the Quarians a few centuries ago, as a source of cheap labor, but ended up turning on them and drove the Quarians into exile. After that, they disappeared behind the Perseus Veil, and no one has heard from them since. Ship's going into the veil tend to not come out."

Rhia nodded as Ashely jogged her memory. The Geth were the galactic cautionary tale of messing around with A.I.'s. Artificial Intelligences, while incredibly powerful and useful if they could be controlled, tended to come to conclusions that were often not in the best interests of their organic creators. While Virtual Intelligence's were commonly used, they were specifically shackled with both hardware and software blocks to prevent them from evolving past their original programming and uses. A V.I. could run thousands of calculations in the space of time that human would take to do one, meaning they were invaluable, especially in things like space travel and FTL jumps, but precautions were taken to prevent the kind of catastrophe the Quarian race had undergone.

They rounded the last bend, and brought Rhia's introspection to a halt, as they walked into a scene that would leave her with nightmares for weeks. A pair of Geth troopers held a colonist, a man looking to be in his 40's or 50's on top of a cylindrical device. One reached down and punched a control on the side, and even as the man weakly looked up and saw them, a flicker of hope ran across his face. The device beneath him whirred and a metal telescoping spike ramming through his chest like he was part a macabre bug collection.

"Son of bitch!" Snarled John as he yanked his rifle up and dropped to one knee, lining up a shot. Rhia didn't wait for him to fire. She was finally close enough to do what she was really She charged, feet pound her forward as she hauled back like she was going to punch the air, flares of tell-tale blue and black energy sparking around her. With a thrust of her hand, she sent the biotic energy out of her in a rush, a wave that slammed into one of the Geth, hammering it back against the rock face with a an audible "whump". Its strange optic eye flickered and died as it slid to the ground, and the milky white and grey fluid streaked the wall behind it. The sniper rifle boomed again, but apparently John had either changed targets at the last second or his slide to a shooting position had been enough to throw him off. The round just grazed the second Geth, only managing to overload its kinetic barriers, and causing it to stagger. It tried to bring it's rifle to up, but she extended her hand again, energy flaring around the geth as it was yanked weightlessly through the air for a moment. She repeated her first gesture savagely, and another biotic kick spiked it down to crash against the unyielding stone with a screeching cry.

"Alenko, get him down, now!" Snapped John as he pounded past Rhia, cracking open one of the containers on this belt to reveal a portable patch of Medi-gel. Kaidan punched something in on his OMNI-Tool, keying commands into the holographic controls at his wrist, and he punched something on the spire. It dropped, flopping the limp form of the man the Geth had impaled. John stopped, his hand on the medi-gel packet and very slowly put it back, instead reaching up to close the stranger's eyes.

"What the hell? Why would they impale victims instead of shooting them?" demanded Ashely aloud.

John stood and Kaidan closed his OMNI-tool. "Classic psychological warfare. They are using terror as a weapon."

Rhia stiffened, her back going rigid. John's voice was flat. Cold. The lack of emotion set her teeth on edge. Ashley shivered too, though Rhia wasn't sure from her friends tone or the cold murder. "They want us to suffer. Jesus." The Eden Prime marine looked around. "Sir, this is the dig sit. The beacon was right here." She pointed at a small recessed area. "It must have been moved."

"Our side? Or the geth?" Kaidan asked.

"Hard to say. Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp?" Williams pointed at a ramp that led up and out of excavation pit.

"Commander...where is Nihlus? I thought he was going to meet us here?" Rhia wondered aloud. She scanned the excavation, but the turian was nowhere in sight.

"He was. " John click his comm, sending a pair of popping noises through the channel, but there was no reply. His frown deepened "Let's move up to the camp, see if we can find the beacon."

He stowed the rifle, the weapon compacting on his back and unlimbered the shotgun as they moved up the small narrow trail to the top. As they took the spiraling path, Rhia looked up at where the research camp should be. Smoke curled up away from it, shrouding most of the sky, but for a second she caught a glimpse of the macabre metal spikes at the top. She didnt say anything, just touched John's shoulder to get his attention. The spikes jutted up like metallic teeth, the bodies of colonists impaled on them. She looked away quickly. They had clearly been up there for far longer, and looked like they had been tortured, their bodies twisted and blackened. She heard her friend growl and from behind her, she heard Chief Williams cough in disgust.

"Keep moving. We have a job to do, and we can't help them now." Was all John said though, and they slipped up over the edge of the dig site and into the research camp.

The camp had been destroyed. Of what looked to have been eight buildings, only two were still standing. Equipment was scattered and broken all over the ground, and the spike like teeth suspended bodies in the air like grisly scarecrows, and no sign of any geth. The bodies of a few colonists lay on the ground, mostly under bits of broken machines and fallen crates.

"Fan out, see what you can find."

She kept her rifle up, stepping to the left around a pair of crates.

"Did anyone else hear that?"

She tensed at Ashley's voice as the others all gave negative answers.

"I heard something behind...Oh god, I think I found a survivor." She saw the marine hop of over another box and kneel and she stepped back around the way she came to help, as she heard what sounded like a low moan from behind her. She stopped, bringing her rifle up reflexively as she spun in place. No geth. The only thing that could have made that sound was...she looked down at a crate, the boots of a colonist sticking out from under it. "Shit, I think I have one too." She dropped her rifle and grabbed the crate, trying to push it off the poor soul under it.

A disfigured arm twitched under the debris. It looked like it had been burned black, some kind of incendiary weapon maybe. She growled and heaved, lifting the crate off the civilian and set it to one side. The figure on the ground moaned again, that low hollow sound of pain resonating in it's chest. She started to call for help from the others as she turned back to see how bad the injuries were. And then the colonist pounced onto her in a full-body tackle that bore them both down, and raked at her with long clawed hands.

* * *

_**Author Note: ** Enjoy! _

_Thermal Clips: One of those little things that as a game change was fine, but as an ingame explanation made no sense, so we just are going to run with the plan they have always been thermal clips. _


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
_Location: Milky Way, Exodus Cluster, Utopia System – _

_Eden Prime Dig Site_

Rhia yelped in surprise and back peddled with a crash into the crates. The things claws raked at her helm, a shower of sparks that blocked her vision almost completely for a momen, and she kicked out with both feet at the former colonist. The impact jarred through her as she hit, and it fell away for a second. She rolled away from it, thrusting out one hand at it as blue sparks of power flared around her, then rushed out in a wave, catching the _thing_ in a biotic uppercut that sent it flopping backwards limply in a lifeless heap.

"CONTACTS RIGHT!" Shouted Kaidan, and she the heard the rest of the _Normandy_ team start shooting.

She hauled herself to her feet, still dazed, and tried to make sense of what she was seeing. The geth's effigies had retracted, freeing the bodies of the colonists. Except they really weren't colonists anymore. The bodies weren't stripped raw or black by fire. They had been changed, twisted, muscles had been replaced with some kind of cybernetic equivalent. Hands had been elongated, the nails grown out to long claws. And their eyes no longer held any traces of humanity: they just burning with a cold calculation and hunger, cybernetic irises spinning and focusing. Rhia stomach spun and threatened revolt as she yanked her pistol out of it's holster, and opened fire with one hand. She dropped one with a head shot, staggered a second and sighted down on a third.

"Major, behind you!" She dropped and spun at the warning, firing out of reflex. The husk she had thrown before took two of her three hasty shots right in the torso center mass, causing it to stagger, but it wasn't enough to stop it.

"Damn it, just DIE!" She screamed, and hit it with the strongest biotic thrust she could, and was rewarded with a popping noise, its neck snapping as it slammed into the ground. She panted and staggered back toward Kaidan and John as their shotgun blasts shredded what looked like the last standing husk. Kaidan looked up at her, and she saw his eyes go wide. "Shit, Major, are you alright?"

She blinked in confusion and rolled her shoulder, "I'm fine, or will be. HUD's down though, and I can't tell if my comms are still working or not." She reached up, feeling the damage to her helm, but couldn't tell how bad it was through the glove of her armor. A long furrow ran down her OMNI-tool hand, and as she flexed it, nothing happened. "OMNI Tool is down too it looks like. Why?"

"Uh, Let me ma'am." Said Kaidan as he stepped up next to her, his hands clicking the seals on her helm and neck armor. Rhia pulled it free, and hissed in pain as metal scrapped her neck. She let the helm fall from her hands as she grabbed the armor at her neck, tugging the flexible armor away from her skin. Kaidan stepped closer, helping to pull the armor free from the spot. She heard him hiss. "Sir, the Major needs medical attention"

"I what? I barely felt anything." She said with a start, and looked down.

Her helmet had three horizontal slashes on her left side of her face, going completely through the first layer of armor and ballistic weave, and down practically to the shell that was millimeters from her face. With a little more force it would have taken half her head off with that slash.

"Holy..." She whispered. "I thought it was just a damaged connection from the impact."

"It got your neck too. Hold still." Said John as he stepped over to her, his voice was calm and reassuring. "Doesn't look too bad, but lets get some medi-gel on it." Rhia pulled her messed up hair back away from that side of her face as the other two marines played doctor. "Where's Chief Williams?"

"I'm here ma'am. Still among the living. Those things were doing their damnedest to alter that fact." She couldn't turn to see her, but the marine's voice was close.

"You alright?"

"Puncture to my gut ma'am. Suit sealed over it, and medi-gel has the pain killed for now. I'm still good to go." She said. She sounded like she was still in pain despite her words, but not terribly so. "Can't say I want to repeat it though."

"It wasn't too deep, but I want Chakwas to see her when we get back. " Said John absently as he applied the medi-gel and pressed a small self-sealing bandage to her neck. "You too for that matter. Those claws on those things are wicked sharp. Cut right through my rifle. " He indicated the discarded remnants of his sniper rifle. The weapon had been severed cleanly in three places.

She let him finish applying the bandage, before pulling away. "We need to get moving. We have lost enough time as it is." She kicked the helm lightly, trying to hide the slight shake in her voice. Kaidan offered her the rifle she had discarded in the melee.

"You dropped this ma'am."

"Thanks L.T." She said tiredly. John pulled Williams to her feet. The Gunnery Chief looked pale through her helmets visor, though her armor only showed a series of four neat puncture wounds. She should be okay after the Doctor got to her, Rhia thought, as long as the medi-gel did its job. . "You good Chief?"

"Ready to kick some ass ma'am."

They moved forward, advancing through the wreckage of shredded buildings and broken machinery. No more geth appeared though, or the husks of the colonists as John led the advance forward before suddenly stopping, a fist in the air as a he halted them and dropped to one knee. Rhia slid down as well, eyes open. Without her HUD to orient her and alert her to possible dangers, she had to rely on her team or her own eyes to pick out danger.

A small clank drew her attention to the storage shed to their right and she caught Johns eye. He nodded as he slid down next to the control panel, leaving the other two as rear guard. He punched the controls and was rewarded by an angry red light from the security lock. He frowned, opening his OMNI-Tool to override it. Rhia kept her rifle trained ahead and focused, pulling a mass effect field tight around her, reinforcing her shields, as John nodded and punched the control again. The hatch slide open with a hiss.

A terrified scream howled out of the shed and Rhia just managed to yank her finger from the trigger before a scrawny pale man hurtled out of the dark shed and slammed into her, bearing them both to the ground. "Civies! Don't shoot!" She shouted and tucked her feet up under her, shoving the man off and rolling back her feet in one smooth motion. The man charged again, and this time she caught his arm and tripped him, spinning him into the ground hard enough to knock the wind from him, cutting off his terrified screeching. She twisted his arm behind him, and planted her knee into the small of his back.

"NO! Please don't hurt him" Shouted a panicked voice. Rhia looked up at an older woman as she stepped out of the shed, her hands raised.

"I would really prefer not to, but he's being a bit persistent here." The colonist twisted under her and she pressed down a little harder.

The woman knelt down next to other colonist, and pressed a small patch to his neck. After a moment, the other man quieted and lay still, and Rhia slowly pulled away, but stayed kneeling as she examined the second colonist. She was just starting to go grey, her dark brown hair having little sets of silver, and her eyes were sunken, her uniform bore a patch on the shoulder declaring her a member of the System's Alliance Science Division

John touched Rhia's shoulder. "Major, I'm going to take Kaidan and move ahead to the spaceport. I want to find Nihlus."

"Go. We'll see what we can find out, and join you in a few. "

She turned back. "I'm sorry. What's your name?"

"I'm Dr. Warren. I was in charge of the excavation team. This is Manuel. " She touched the man's shoulder, who was a mumbling as he lay there. Rhia helped the doctor to roll him over.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"They must have come for the beacon, but it was moved to the spaceport this morning. Manuel and I had stayed behind to pack up the camp. When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us."

Out of the corner of her eye, Rhia could see William's tense up, but the Chief kept her face stoic.

"No one is saved...the age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin...corpses..." muttered Manuel, apparently not completely out despite the dose of sedative. His words sent a chill of ice down Rhia's spine.

"It all happened so fast." Warren continued. "One second we were gathering up our equipment, the next we were hiding in the shed while the geth swarmed the camp."

"Agents of the destroyers...Bringers of Darkness...Heralds of our extinction." Mumbled Manuel.

"Okay, that is just kind of creepy." muttered Ashley. Rhia tried to ignored both and listened to Warren as she continued.

"We could hear the battle outside. Gunfire. Screams. I thought it would never end. Then, everything finally went quiet. We just sat there, too afraid to move till you came along."

"You saw no one till we came through? We had a turian with us that moved ahead, you didn't see him?"

The doctor shook her head. "No, sor-" Manuel jerked, his eyes snapping open. "I saw him! The Prophet. He was here, before the attack. Leader of the Enemy. Evil eyes, sees you, sees inside your skin. Came for it. He came for the heart of evil. Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness!"

"Sshhhh, Manuel, it's alright…." Whispered Doctor Warren as she looked up at them. "I'm sorry. He's always been excitable, but this was too much for him."

Rhia shook her head and picked up her rifle again as she stood up. "It's alright. You should be okay if you want to stay here, but if you hear or see anything that isn't human, get back in the shed and lock the door again. "

She nodded at Williams who hefted her own rifle and together they started working their way back the way the guys had gone. A little over half way down the hill Ashley stopped suddenly and touched her helmet, listened for a second before looking over at Rhia. "Major, they found Nihlus. They are waiting for us ahead by the tower." Ashley pointed with her rifle down the hill a little farther. Rhia raised an eyebrow.

"What was the hold up?"

"….He's dead, ma'am."

Rhia blinked. Dead? The Turian had been a Spectre, one of the Councils most dangerous operatives and he had been killed? She looked at Ashley, browing furrowed in thought

"…Lets double time it. I want to know what is going on here."

It took a few minutes to get down to the space port. A pair of geth had been dispatched and lay in a heap not far from the tower, but that was all that either of the marines saw.

"Over here." Came Kaidan's voice. Rhia turned at the voice. Behind a stack of crates sat Kaidan and John, both looking frustrated. Rhia stepped over and knelt next to prone form in front of them: the body of Nihlus. She frowned as she examined the body. A single shot to the back of his head.

"What happened?"

John shrugged. "At this point, I have no idea what is going on. A dock worker by the name of Powell got lucky and survived the attack. Says he saw the whole thing. According to him another Turian was here before Nihlus was, someone by the name of Saren. Nihlus recognized him as another Spectre, let down his guard, and Saren shot him in the back of his head. "

"Why is there another turian on Eden Prime? I mean-"She stopped remembering the Manuel's words_."I saw him! The Prophet. He was here, before the attack. Leader of the Enemy. Evil eyes, sees you, sees inside your skin. Came for it. "_

"Sir, one of the survivors at the camp said he saw a turian just before the attack. He wasn't entirely lucid, so I was going to ignore it, but…if what you say is true, then…."

John finished her thought. "…then a Council Spectre is working with the Geth and using them on human colonies. And he's after the beacon."

"Spaceport. Warren said they had moved the beacon there." Rhia said, thinking quickly "Colony like this would have a tram-rail to get the heavy stuff to the port quickly. We can use that, get there before they can take it."

Sudden excitement glittered back into John's eyes, replacing the frustration and sense of failure with renewed fire. "Let's go. We can't have much time."

A chorus of "Aye aye's" answered him and they took off opting for speed instead stealth. Ashley saw the tram first, a small mag-tram style and practically jumped from the ramp to its bed, with Rhia right behind her. Kaidan shouldered into the control box, and mashed down on the controls calling, "Hang on!" The vehical lurched into motion as he kicked the engines to full as fast as they would go, a rumbling hum under her as she hooked her arm around one of the side railings to keep her balance.

It would have taken them another twenty minutes to get to the spaceport on foot, but with the tram, and Kaidan manning the controls, it took less than five minutes. Rhia leaned out to one side to get a better view as they got closer.

"Coming up on the platform, better back it down. And I think we have hostiles on your side" She shouted over the wind. John nodded, hooked his arm through one rail and leaned out, taking aim even as the tram lurched as Kaidan cut the speed. His gun hand wobbled for second, the pistol in his hand before he squeezed the trigger. Rhia blinked in surprise. He was good she knew, but did he really think he could hit them at this speed?John steadied his hand, and squeezed the trigger slowly. He fired two more times in rapid succession and jerked back just as the edge of the platform whipped by and Kaidan slammed the breaks on.

As the tram came to a screeching halt, she blinked in surprise again. There, flopped over some kind of device, were the Geth she had barely been able to spot.

"Nice shooting John." She stepped off the train, eyeing his handiwork. " Three more years of sniper training, and I still don't think I would have made that shot."

"I doubt that. You nearly took my record as I recall."

She shook her head. "Reminisce later, stop evil robots now." She shoved the destroyed geth to one side, off whatever device it had been working with, and stopped, feeling her heart rate spike.

"Lieutenant, check this out please. I'm not demolitions expert, but that's is remarkably bomb shaped, and its counting down."

Kaidan was already in motion before she stopped speaking, slipping in front of her. She saw him pale a bit through his visor. "Yes ma'am. That is a very big bomb." He popped a panel open, and ran his OMNI Tool over it, accessing the control and began hacking in. Rhia saw a warning light flash on his HUD.

"Um, Sirs, Ma'am" Said Williams. "My HUD just triggered a radiological alarm. Four of them."

"Holy.." Rhia muttered as she looked down at Kaidan picked up his pace. "Time to disable that LT?"  
"Thirty seconds to another minute. Time to detonation is nine."

John snapped into action, "Chief, go with the Major, find the next one and secure it. LT, deal with that and then get up and find them, disarm the one they secured. I'll find the next one and secure it. If I get a chance I'll attempt to disarm it."

He suited action to words, storming up the ramp just moments ahead of them and turned left, following his helmets HUD. Rhia suddenly really missed her helmet.

"This way." Panted Ashley as she turned the opposite way from where John had gone, jogging down the long hall and starting around the next corner. Ashley swore and yanked herself back as a dozen bullets chewed into the metal where she had been. Rhia felt her pulse rise, and didn't slow, instead accelerating and threw herself across the opening, her fist clenching as she did. Blue power raced along her body and she thrust her clenched fist forward, sending a wave of energy streaking down the hall to bowl into the cluster of three geth, scattering them like bowling pins before they could bring their weapons around on her.

Her armor screeched on the metal floor as she slid to a stop, she was firing before she even finished aiming. Ashley recovered, dropped to one knee, and joined her own hail of bullets to Rhia's, riddling the Geth as they tried to rise.

"Go! I'm right behind you!" Rhia panted as she hauled herself up, sprinting after the other woman as Ashley barreled through the next door and firing as she went. Rhia heard the discordant warble of Geth's death-throes as she caught up, just as a second of the synthetic soldiers closed to hand to hand with Ashley. It managed to get a grip on the other woman's rifle, and it tried to wrestle the other marine's gun down and away from her. Ashley held gamely on, but apparently despite the slim size of their form, the synthetic was stronger.

It's strength didn't matter when Rhia hit it at the joint in a sharp kick. There was a shrieking crack as the joint gave wave and the Geth lost its balance, toppling backward. Ashley brought the rifle down and fire three quick shots, and it stopped moving altogether. Rhia hurriedly looked around, and quickly found the second nuke. "Status on Kaidan?"

"Done and on his way. The Commander is in trouble though. He's working on disarming the one he found, but is taking fire."

"I'll go. Stay with Kaidan, then find the last one. Hopefully we beat you to it. "

"Aye aye ma'am. See you there."

Rhia took off at a sprint again, pounding down the across the tracks on one of the sky-walks. She had been here before, and the direction John had gone only had one other way to get there. She slowed her pace, and dared a peak around the corner

John was ducked down behind the warhead, still punching at his OMNI-Tool even as nearly a dozen geth stalked forward like some strange birds, their weapons raised, taking calculated shots at the Commander. She rolled out of her cover, and opened fire in quick, aimed bursts, trying to drop them as fast as possible. She got two, and flicked a biotic thrust at a third and then dove back into cover, hoping that she had proven herself to be more dangerous tactically to the machines than John was.

A chorus of electronic screams drowned out every other she could make out, punctuated by what sounded like electrical sparks. It carried on for several seconds before cutting off, and a series loud metallic pair of thumps let her know that at least a few more of the geth were down. "It's clear, Major. And I'm done here." Came her friend's voice. "And good timing."

"I always have impeccable timing. Where is the last one?"

He pointed down. "Far end, and right. Though I'm getting interference. Pretty sure it's the Geth wising up and jamming our sensors. "

"Lovely."

She let him lead, panning left, right and back, making sure that nothing snuck up on them, nearly bumping into him when he stopped suddenly. She looked back over her shoulder to see why he hand stopped, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes as she did. He just pointed and giving her a hand signal to indicate two enemies in the next room. She nodded and slid to one side flexing one hand, little flares of blue energy rippling off her.

When John moved, he moved fast. He spun around the corner and into cover on the other side, his pistol blazing away, each shot a hit, staggering the first Geth. She stepped around right after, reaching for the other, willing it to rise as she grabbed it in a mass effect field, spinning it into the air even as it lost touch with gravity. With a flick of her hand, she reversed the field, slamming the Geth soldier down hard, causing it to rebound a foot off the metal floor with the force of the impact. It didn't rise.

She paced forward, a sense of unease crawling up her spine that she couldn't place as she glanced around the small empty storage area. John started to move across the room, heading for the opposite door when the yellow-white beam slammed into his back. Rhia snapped her gaze straight up to see a Geth, skittering along the fucking _roof_ like a strange grey spider. She shouted, hurling biotic energy at it so hard that she could feel it vibrate through her whole body. But it was fast, flinging itself straight down, then rebounding, hurtling across the room the second it touched down before orienting back to face her. She turned, trying to bring her biotics to bear with another blast, but stopped at the last second, diving to one side out of instinct instead. The Geth's optic, larger than the ones they had dealt with previously, went from white to red, and the same energy beam that dropped John burned through the air only inches from her.

A pistol barked angrily and the Geth jerked, white fluid and electrical discharges rebounding from it's eye as a second hit the housing just behind it, sending the machine to the floor. Rhia scrambled up from where she had landed, looking around to see John rise shakily to his feet.

"You alright?" She straightened, and offered a hand up to him. He took it without a word, but hissed in pain when he twisted in armor.. The armored shoulder pauldron was blackened and burned where the beam had struck.

"Nasty little thing..." She muttered.

"No argument here." His gaze focused on something on his HUD and he grimaced. "We only have about 3 minutes left if all the bombs are synched together." John shouldered past her as he spoke, his gun leveled, and activated the door control. It flashed red.

"Shit." He swore and he brought his OMNI tool up at the door. "Kaidan, Williams, tell me you are at the fourth bomb. The Major and I have hit a snag. "Rhia hissed in frustration and shifted from foot to foot as he worked.

_+Negative Commander. I just finished on the third. Williams moved ahead to clear to the last one. +_

"William's? What's your status?"

Silence.

John glanced back at her as he twisted, the door panel flickering for a second before going back to red. He keyed something else, and it repeated it's little flicker, but still stayed that ominous red. "William's can you hear me?" He repeated.

"Come on, come on, come on." Rhia found herself chanting to herself as she rocked back and forth.

_+I have eyes on the device Commander, but it's going to be close. I -SHIT!+_

_"_Kaidan! What happened?"

_+Sorry Commander. Taking fire from a pair of geth on the next walkway. I'm pinned+_

"Time?" Rhia asked but she knew the answer: Not enough. She could see the red warning light from his helmet flashing on his cheek. He said very quietly. "It was good to see you Rhi. "

She stopped her jittery rocking and stepped next to her friend and just leaned against him as the time clicked down the last few seconds. She closed her eyes. She didn't need to say anything more.

_+Device disarmed!+ _

Ashley's triumphant cry was loud enough that Rhia heard it through John's comm unit. She jolted upright as relief and surprise shot through her like a lightning bolt.

_+Damn geth were jamming sir. I could hear you, but you couldn't hear me apparently. When I realized you were cut off, I started to attempt to disarm it myself.+_

Kaidan's voice click through, _+Chief, I have to ask. How much time was left?+ _

Ashley hesitated. _+You really do not want to know sir.+_

John sighed. "I have had enough for one day. Kaidan, do you still need help?"

_+Negative. The Geth are withdrawing. +_

"Good. Let's find this damn beacon and go home."

* * *

It took about fifteen minutes to find where the beacon had been sequestered on the far side of the loading dock, just waiting on the Normandy to pick it up. It was a simple looking thing, about two feet across, and nearly 12 feet tall, its base wider and tapering off near the top. The beacon flickered with dim waves of green light playing along its surface. Rhia and Ashey examined the beacon while John called in the Normandy for the pickup. Kaidan had gone back to make sure the nuclear devices were all inert and incapable of being reactivated.

"Not what I expected. Sure it's Prothean? "Rhia asked. William's just shrugged.

"I assume the scientists know what they are talking about, and they say it is."

Rhia stepped forward, peering up at it.

"When you saw it before, was it humming?"

Ashley just looked at her. "Humming? I don't hear anything. I mean, it wasn't glowing when they dug it. Someone must have activated it."

Rhia glanced back, and took another step forward. "You can't hear that? I swear that it's..." She stopped mid-sentence, drawn forward, her curiosity peaked.

"Sorry, nothing ma'am. " Ashley shrugged, and looked back at the John, still giving his quick report to Anderson.

She couldn't shake it. It was humming, a strange almost siren-like call that was resonating in her bones….she found herself reaching forward like she wanted to touch it.

The room spun for a second as Rhia felt invisible weight settle on her, yanking her forward. She let out a choking gasp of surprise and tried to stop her slide. Pain washed over her, her muscles firing all at once, her biotics, triggered by muscle memory, blazed to life sparking with the field around the beacon angrily. Images flashed through her for a moment, shrieking noises that sent her mind screaming to the hidden dark places to hide. She only barely felt the arms that grabbed around the waist, hauling her back and flinging her away from the beacon.

She landed in a crumpled heap, unable to control her arms and legs, her body jerking in short spastic motions. Her head spun, and for a second she thought she was going to pass out completely, her vision blurring as she saw someone in armor hauled up like some macabre marionette in front of the beacon, suspended by invisible strings. The hum raised in pitch and tempo until the only word to describe it was a hellish shriek, the energy from the beacon shimmering faster and brighter, throbbing painfully until it was almost a constant blaze of light to her eyes.

And then with a thunderous roar, it exploded, flinging the unfortunate soul suspended in front of it down with a crash.

She blinked, staring, her ears ringing even as she saw Ashley leap from her side, where she hadn't even noticed her, to the limp form of Lieutenant-Commander John Shepard.

"SSV Normandy, we need an immediate pick-up! The Commander and Major are both down, I repeat we need an immediate pick up!"

The marines words echoed oddly to her, and Rhia felt the darkness creep into her vision again as she stared at John, his armor sporting new holes where fragments of the beacon were lodged in it. She could see blood seeping from his shoulder, her vision narrowing as she watched it leak from his wounds. Then nothing.

* * *

_**Author Note: ** Trying to describe the Husks while not calling them husks yet was a lot harder than i thought it would be. In the game I more or less was happy when I had to fight them, but I wanted to try and convey that they could do a lot more damage than the game always depicted, due to being essentially reaper shock troops. Just an opinion.  
_

_Goal for the next chapter is Friday, but if I get really productive and get it done before then, it will be earlier of course. Hope you have enjoyed everything so far!_


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_Location: Milky Way, Local Cluster, Sol System – _

_SSV Normandy – En-route to: Serpent Nebula, Widow System – The Citadel_

Commander John Shepard blearily opened his eyes, blinding white lights blazing down on him. Where was he? What had happened? He blinked several times and tried to pull himself up, one hand reflexively reaching for his head.

"Doctor Chakwas, I think he's waking up!" Said a woman's voice that he dimly recognized, just moments before several pairs of hands pinned him back down to the cool metal of the bed he was laying on.

"Commander, I must ask you remain exactly where you are. Do no move, do you understand me?" Another woman's voice, older, with a tint of an accent that made her sound even more of a calm authority than that her age already granted her.

He blinked several more times, trying to clear his eyes, the room coming slowly into focus. He was back onboard the Normandy, the System's Alliance most recent, most advanced, and of course, most expensive Frigate, equipped with pretty much state of the art everything. Including, it appeared, state of the art Medical Equipment.

"Ow." He blinked and tried turn his head slowly to have a hand firmly but gently push down on his forehead to stop any further movement.

"Just stay down Commander, Doctor Chakwas is still working on you." That was a new voice, one that he recognized faster. Lt. Kaidan Alenko, biotic. Marine. Tech-Geek. He had been with him...somewhere. "Whatever the beacon hit you with, fused your armor. We had to cut you out of it, and the Doc is just now getting to pull the pieces out." Kaidan's voice was softer, calm.

Pain lanced down his left side, fiery agony that shocked him to his core and he flexed involuntarily.

"Damn it, hold him! There are two more, and they look to be even more deeply embedded than that one was." Snapped the older woman...Doctor Chakwas, he finally placed it through the pain. "Captain, with all due respect, you will either help me here, or you will get out of the way so I can do my job."

Captain Anderson's resonating voice boomed across the room. "Where do you need me Doctor?"

Commander Shepard didn't hear what her answer was, as he glanced to the side, not moving his head, but just able to meet Kaidan's eye. The young biotic looked pale as he met his eyes before looking away, and speaking to the others in the room. "Doc, shouldn't we sedate him, or give him something for the pain?"

"I already have, however considering the state of these injuries, I suspect that we are getting the best reaction we could hope for, at the moment." Doctor Chakwas stepped into view, holding what seemed to be a pair of...pliers.

Shepard dully considered that statement for a moment, as well as the implication of the crude repair tool in her hand.

"Commander, I'm about to remove another shard. This one is imbedded in your shoulder. You are going to want to move, but please try to hold still. If you struggle, we could do even more harm than you have taken already. Do you understand me?" She looked at Kaidan, who released his head.

John took a breath and nodded slowly. "Do what you need to Doctor." He braced himself, and Kaidan, Anderson, and...Ashely. Ashely Williams, that was her name, braced down on him, to keep him pinned to the bed, as Doctor Chakwas grasped the metal shard...and pulled.

* * *

Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko winced and looked away as Doctor Chakwas pulled and cut the shards of alien metal free from the XO. The Commander was a tough son of a bitch, but even hopped up painkillers, this had to be absolute torture as Chakwas pulled another sizable shard of the prothean beacon from his shoulder. The beacon that had exploded for no apparent reason.

"Damn it, LT, focus!" Snapped a woman's voice. He blinked, and focused on the short, but compact woman in front of him. Her dark hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail and her dark eyes glared angrily at him. "Keep that arm pinned LT, or I swear, I'LL knock you out." snapped Ashley Williams. Kaidan had no illusion she would follow through on her threat. From the little bit they had known each other, she had impressed him more than once.

"Yes Ma'am." He said, and bore down on his commanding officers arm.

The Commander gripped the table beneath his him, tensing, and then went still with a groan. Doctor Chakwas quickly pulled the last shard of the Prothean artifact free. She panted as she spoke "There...that was...the last. God, I am sorry Commander. There really wasn't another way to do that. Commander?" Doctor Chakwas pushed past Kaidan, her OMNI-tool scanning the commander as she did. "….he's unconscious. The medication and the pain must have finally done it."

Kaidan nodded at Ashley and they both slowly eased up on Shepard's arms, even as Captain Anderson stepped back as well. Doctor Chakwas moved, carefully applying Medi-gel and pressure bandages to the small cavities left by the destroyed beacon's shards. Shepard just lay there, his eyes closed and breathing slowly, relaxing slowly as the Doctors ministrations eased some of his discomfort.

"Is he going to be alright, Doctor?" Asked Captain Anderson.

"The trauma was more painful than life threatening, I suspect he will be up and about shortly, regardless of my orders. I am going to keep him sedated for at least a couple of hours though, and simply forestall that inevitable truth for as long as I can reasonably do so. "

A voice piped up over the inter-ship comms_. + Captain, Admiral Hackett is on the com for you. + _

. "I'll take it in my office. Thank you Joker." Captain Anderson said with a sigh. "How about the Major?"

"She is a bit more beat up, but she should be fine. She had a seizure when the beacon interfered with her biotic field, on top of her smaller lacerations and what I suspect is a mild concussion, though the scans are less conclusive on that point." She bent over the still sleeping form of Rhiannon, placing one hand on her head as she tapped the monitor. "She should be waking up fairly soon, though, and I expect will be hungry." She smoothed some of Rhia's red hair away from her face and looked up at them.

Kaidan looked at the doctor. "Do you still need us?"

The graying matron shook her head. "Thank you, but you two can go. I doubt the Commander will be able to provide me with too many shenanigans now. "

Ashley nodded. "Aye, Aye. I'll be in the mess if you need me."

Kaidan nodded. "I think I'll join you. If the Major is like me, after a day like today, food will bring her to consciousness faster than anything."

Chakwas chuckled softly. "I suspect you two have a great deal in common with each other, Lieutenant, even if you two don't know it yet. " Kaidan blinked at the twinkle in her eye, but didn't comment on it.

"Let us know if you need us."

"Of course."

* * *

Rhia woke in the dark of the Med bay a few hours later, aching and sore. The air felt cold and her skin was clammy, chilled but sweaty too. Her head throbbed, pulsing with spikes of pain that made her sit up and grab at her temples. She sat like that for several long moments, just breathing, slowing her pulse to try and get the pain under control. Finally, deciding that it wasn't going to get much better, she slipped off the bed to the floor.

The metal floor was ice cold on her bare feet, and she considered just jumping back on the bed to escape it. Instead, she reached over and pulled the blanket from the medical bed, wrapped it around her as she padded over to see one of her oldest friends.

She dimly remember being taken to the Medical Bay, and that John was hurt, but she didn't remember more than that. She touched his hand, her other hold the blanket wrapped around her. Her shorts and sports bra weren't a barrier to the cold. For that matter, the blanket wasn't much either, but it was better than nothing.

She eyed the monitor, watching his heart rate beat slowly but steadily. She sighed. "Hell of a first mission, John. Let's try to keep the rest of this tour a little less insane." She whispered to him. She ran one hand along his cheek.

Nearly 14 years ago, he had been the one that she had curled up next to, broken and in tears, despite his own loss. His father had died saving her and the few other survivors from Mindoir, and he had never once blamed her. She had come aboard the _SSV Einstein_ with the survivors, but she had no one, and John had found her curled up alone in the cargo bay. He had sat with her till she fell asleep, and stayed, even when his mother came to find him, till she woke up. He always looked out for others, and not himself. She smiled. It was just one of the many things that made him who he was.

She looked down at him in the soft glow of the monitor for a bit longer, just remembering some of the little things before she stepped back into reality. She kept the blanket, but slipped out of Medical and into the Mess.

What she found was both adorable and hilarious, and she bit down on her hand to keep the giggles welling up in her from becoming a full belly laugh that would have woken everyone on the deck.

Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko had apparently been waiting for her or John to wake up, and had fallen asleep himself, an empty bowl on the table next to his face. A little dribble of drool ran down his chin. It definitely qualified as "cute". Next to him, Gunnery Chief Ashely Williams had slipped into slumber as well, face buried in her arms. Less compromising than the LT, but still something to smile about. She considered attempting to sneak away and find a way to photograph it, but decided she had other priorities first.

Rhia padded past them, and poked around the mess, looking for any leftovers from what they had eaten. She opened the fridge and smiled again. Chakwas had given them forewarning it seemed, or Kaidan had the forethought to keep something for her, and she pulled out the very clearly labelled plastic container with the words. "Major: EAT ME" and set it on the counter, before turning and placing it in the small microwave to warm.

At the table, Ashley stirred at the sound and looked up sleepily. Rhia waved silently and pulled the blanket around her a bit closer as she waited. The other marine slipped out of her chair, stretching with a yawn as she moved closer to so keep her voice low.

"How are you feeling ma'am?"

"Tired. Sore. How long was I out?"

Ashley flicked a response down at her wrist, at the small antique watch there. Rhia raised an eyebrow. Watches were almost unheard of anymore, replaced in function by OMNI tools, like so many other things.

"About six hours. You were in and out when we got you on board. I think the Doctor was starting to worry that you were in more serious condition when you didn't wake in one or two like she thought you would. The Lieutenant and I stayed in case she needed some help."

Rhia pulled her little container of soup from the microwave with one hand and palmed a spoon, leaning up against the counter as she dug in. She made a face at the taste, but gamely spooned out another mouthful. Ashley caught her expression and didn't bother to try and hide the grin.

"That...was about my thoughts as well."

"Oh army rations. At least it's hot..." muttered Rhia as she dutifully continued to eat. "John, I mean, the Commander is still out. Do you know how he is?"

"Resting. When the beacon exploded he got hit by some of the shrapnel, on top of being thrown around by it like you were." Ashley's expression got a little green. "… Dr. Chakwas had to cut out some of the pieces. They weren't too deep, mostly, but they burned him too. Doc said he should be fine, though he will be sore."

Rhia nodded and shoved the last of the soup into her mouth as she listened. "And you? I know you said it was minor before, but still."

Ashely shrugged. "I'm fine. Medi-gel did its work. I've had worse, and I wasn't nearly as beat up as the Commander or you ma'am."

Rhia smiled. "Yeah, we tend to turn into the walking wounded a lot...but we get things done. Maybe the reason they finally put the Commander and I on the same team was so that they would have a full functioning person out of the two of us. "

Ashley glanced at the dark medical bay. "You know the Commander?"

"We are old friends. He and I met when we were kids, kind of kept in touch ever since. " She shrugged nonchalantly. "This was our first mission together. He always joked that they kept us separate so we wouldn't confuse each other."

Ashley gave her a look that made Rhia stop. "...what?"

"Nothing, ma'am. Just...um."

Rhia had a sudden burst of insight and she couldn't hide the grin. "...Williams, do you know the Commanders last name?"

The other woman blinked at the question. "I um..." She stopped and thought. "I suppose I never actually caught it in the confusion. Just his first name. Huh."

"It's Shepard. A lot of his friends call him that." Rhia set the empty bowl down, and pulled the blanket back up a bit. "Which makes it really awkward when I tend to answer to that as well." She pointed at herself. "Rhiannon Shepard. No relation but that kind of made it all the more entertaining. And confusing. "

Understanding dawned in Ashley's eyes. "OH! Wow, what are the odds of that?"

Rhia just grinned. "We tend to beat the odds repeatedly with blunt instruments. I think this is it's form of payback." She sobered slightly. "Though today, that was because of you. Thank you. Geth had the rest of us dead-to-rights."

"Just doing my job ma'am. You all _did _just get done pulling my sorry ass out of the fire before that."

"Ha...we'll call it even then. " Rhia suddenly yawned, waves of fatigue rolling over her, making her aching body feel heavy now that she had some food in her kick start her body into healing. "I should probably go lay down again. Get some rest Williams. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"You too ma'am. Um, should I wake the Lieutenant? "

Rhia glanced at the still sleeping Kaidan. "Would you see if you can get him into a sleeping pod? I suddenly am pretty sure that if my next stop isn't bed shaped, I'll end up sleeping on the floor..."

"Will do. Good night, ma'am."

"You too Chief."

Rhia stole silently back into the Medical bay and curled back up on the bed she had woken up on. She could have gone out to the sleeping pods she knew, but having Chakwas come hunt her down for skipping out of Medical without her approval wasn't worth the benefits. She grabbed another blanket and curled up like she normally did, and slipped her hands around the dog tags at her neck, running her fingers over them as she slipped off into sleep again.

* * *

Commander John Shepard woke to voices, blinking up at the unfamiliar lights that made him want to shut his eyes to shut out the stabbing pain they caused. He blinked and squinted.

"...alright, flex your right hand now. Good. And you are sure you don't have a headache."

"I am sure. And I think your other patient is awake and requiring your attention Doctor."

He sat up slowly, feeling his head and abruptly wishing he had not. His side ached, and his head felt like it was playing the part of a drum for a Krogan musical. He felt Doctor Chakwas come to his side.

"You had us worried there for a while, Shepard. How are you feeling?"

"Like the morning after shore leave. How long was I out? "

"About a total of 15 hours now. You were unconscious when you were brought aboard, and only regained it when we were removing the shards of the Beacon."

Rhia sat on another bed two down from him, looking like she had just gotten down showering, her red hair still wet and pulled back from her face in a small tail. She looked at him glumly. "That was my fault. I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You threw me out of the way."

He shook his head. "You had no idea what would happen. Had it been Kaidan or me, you would have been pushing us out of the way instead."

Doctor Chakwas piped up. "Actually we don't even know if that's what set it off. Unfortunately we'll never get the chance to find out. "

He felt his eyebrows go up. "What do you mean? Where is the beacon now?"

Rhia and the Doctor exchanged a look, before Chakwas spoke up. "The Beacon exploded. A system overload, maybe."

"The blast knocked you cold. Did a number on me as well. The Lieutenant and Gunnery Chief carried us both back to the ship." Rhia explained. "I got rattled around a bit less than you did, woke up last night."

He gingerly touched his side and looked back at the physician. "What's the damage, Doctor?"

"You had three shards that managed to penetrate both your shields and armor. They were superheated somehow, and fused to you when you were struck. Removing them...was problematic. They are fairly superficial though, at that, so you should be fine in a day or three, as long as you have the bandages changed regularly. Beyond that, you are fine physically. But I did detect some unusual brain activity while you were unconscious. Abnormal Beta waves. I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."

He frowned. He remembered dreaming, remembered the blast of images from the beacon, but now he couldn't really recall them, just vague feelings. "I saw...I' not sure what I saw. Death. Destruction. Nothing's really clear."

Doctor Chakwas frowned as well at that. "Hmm, I better add that to the report. It may- Oh, Captain Anderson."

"How's are these two holding up, Doctor?" Rumbled Captain Anderson, the door sliding closed behind him with a hiss.

"All the readings are looking normal. I'd day the Commander is going to be fine, in a couple of days. If he listens to instructions." She gave him a pointed looked that made Shepard smile before drawling out a "Yes ma'am."

"The Major here is also fit to duty in a day or three, though I want you to let me know if you get any feedback at all from your biotics." Rhia raised her hands in surrender, but didn't say anything back. "Other than that, they are all yours."

"Glad to hear it. Doctor, I hate to kick you out of your own Medical Bay, but I need to speak to them in private if I may." He looked over at Ashley and the Doctor.

"Of course Captain. I need to take Joker his medication anyway." The elder woman opened a small cabinet and pulled out a small bottle and started for the door. "I'll be on the bridge if you need me."

Anderson waited for the door to close before continuing.

"Sounds like the beacon hit you pretty hard, Commander. You sure you're okay?"

He stretched, testing his side a bit before settling back. "Sore, but I'll live." He felt a chill settle over him as he thought about it. "Unlike Jenkins."

"Jenkins wasn't your fault. You did a good job, Shepard. Lt. Alenko already gave me his account of what happened, and there was nothing you could have done."

"I could have, if Intel hadn't dropped the ball as badly as they did." He snapped back a little harsher than he intended.

Rhia didn't say anything, her face schooled into a mask of professional calm. He fought to keep his temper in check.

Anderson raised his hand in a placating gesture. "The Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in two centuries, Commander. No one could have predicted this."

Shepard didn't answer that. The only thing he could see was a all too vivid replay of Corporal Jenkins, advancing across the open ground, as the Geth Drones suddenly screamed down over the tree tops, auto-turrets blazing. They had gunned him down, through his kinetic barriers and armor before he could take three more steps.

"I won't lie to you, John. Things look bad. Nihilus is dead. The beacon was destroyed, and the Geth are invading. The Council is going to want answers. "

"We've got nothing to hide. We didn't do anything wrong, and hopefully the council can see that. The Geth would have wiped out the whole colony if we hadn't stopped them, and if I have permission to speak frankly sir, if the Council wants to try and blame us for losing the beacon, then they can kiss my ass." Cut in Rhia heatedly.

Anderson nodded. "I'll stand behind you both and your reports. You're both damned heroes in my books. But that's not why I'm here. It's Saren, the other turian. Saren's a Spectre, one of the best and a living legend in eyes of many, including some on the Council. But if he's working with the Geth, then he's gone rogue...and that is more than a little trouble. Saren's dangerous, and he particularly hates humans.

That brought both himself and Rhia up short. He blinked. "Why?"

"He thinks we are growing too fast, taking over the galaxy.. A lot of aliens think that way. Most of them don't do anything about it, but if Saren has allied himself with the Geth...well...I don't think he will be alone if he starts an anti-human crusade. Do we know what he wanted at Eden Prime? Was he after the Beacon?"

He nodded. "I think so sir. The geth were attempting to prepare to load it on a shuttle to take with them based on where we located it, but hadn't managed to do so when we arrived. The Geth seemed to be planning to take it and blow up the colony to cover the fact it was missing. "

Anderson looked surprised. "Lt. Alenko thought the Geth sabotaged it. You think they intended to take it with them? "

He nodded again. "Yes sir."

"It makes sense sir. Even years after studying it, we have still found new information in the Mars Archive, haven't we? Why would he risk losing something like that?" Rhia commented.

"Did you see anything, any clue to as to what Saren was after? You were there just before it self-destructed..."

John shifted uncomfortably. "I...saw...or remember maybe, something...well, it was odd. A vision I guess."

Anderson looked at him, a tad skeptical"...You might want to explain that one a bit more, Commander."

"Just before I lost consciousness, I saw...something." He paused, thinking over his next words as he tried to work through the barrage of images again in his memory. "Images of Synthetics, Geth maybe, or maybe something else. They were slaughtering people, butchering them. Over and over. I would say it was a war, but it was less of a fight and more of a slaughter, from what I saw. The synthetics killed women, children. "

Anderson sighed. "We need to report this to the Council."

"And what are we going to tell them, that I had a bad dream? We have no proof, the beacon is gone..."

"We don't know what information was stored in that beacon. Lost Prothean technology? Blue prints for ancient weapons? Whatever it was, Saren took it." Anderson paced, frustrated and worried. " But I know Saren. I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humanity is a blight on the galaxy, and this is just the first of many steps to a war. He's apparently got his army in the Geth, and I'm not going to stand by as he prepares to wipe us out. "

"We won't. We have witnesses that place him at Eden Prime."

"It's not that easy. He's a Spectre. He can go anywhere, do almost anything. That's why we need the Council on our side."

John grimaced. "So, we have to get the Council to revoke his Spectre status. That...is going to be a tall order, if they won't accept our evidence."

Rhia kicked her feet back and forth on the bed, rocking with some of her usual nervous energy. "So we make them listen. Or we find something they will accept, that they can't ignore.

Anderson nodded. "I'll contact Ambassador Udina, see if he can get the ball rolling on getting an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. If you are feeling up to it, head up to the Helm and have Joker bring us in to dock. We should be at the Serpent's Nebula shortly. "

John pushed himself off the bed, and snapped a salute, quickly hiding the shock of pain that ran up his side. Rhia slid off the bed to the floor as well, her salute less crisp, but still formal. Anderson looked at him as if appraising his condition before returning their salute. "Dismissed, Commander, Major."

Together, the two off them stepped out into the hall, Rhia brushing just in front of them at the door. Immediately outside of the Medical Bay, Gunner Chief Ashley Williams, was waiting, her hands behind her back. "Sir, ma'am, a moment of your time?"

John shrugged. "If you are willing to walk and talk, Chief." He gestured her to follow him. "What's on your mind?" Rhia stepped ahead, still listening, leading as they started up the steps to the CIC while the other two walked side by side.

"I just wanted to say, thank you sir. You pulled me out of the fire back there. And I wanted to thank you for asking me to stay aboard the Normandy. "

He felt his eyebrows come up in surprise. "You are welcome, though I think we can safely call it even about Eden Prime. But I'm afraid I can't take credit for you coming on board the Normandy. Major? "

"I haven't given a formal report or recommendation yet." Rhia said, turning as she spoke, skipping up the last few steps to the CIC backwards. "Anderson asked you to stay aboard?"

"I-yes. Yes ma'am. I assumed it was under your recommendations."

"I just gave my abbreviated report to the Captain a moment ago, Chief, and frankly I think my head's still a tad scrambled. I forgot to ask the Captain if you were staying with us or why you were here." He stopped just before the door to the CIC. "Normally I have a say in who's on my ground teams, but I saw you in action on Eden Prime. Anderson may have made that call, but I'm glad he did. You will do well with us on the Normandy, I'm sure of it."

"I agree with the Commander, Chief, and I hope I made that clear when we spoke last night. Glad to have you." said Rhia.

The relief could practicallly be seen washing into her features. "Thanks Commander, Major. I appreciate that. I guess part of me just feels a bit guilty with what happened. If Jenkins was alive, I might not be here."

John was quiet when answered. He knew he would be bothered more by it later when he had a moment to grieve, but now wasn't the right time for it. "He will be missed. But I would be more concerned about how you are holding up. It got rough down there."

She shifted a bit uncomfortably. "I've seen friends die before. Comes with being a Marine. But to see my whole unit wiped out...and you never get used to seeing dead civilians. But what I keep telling myself is that we saved some. You saved some."

"We couldn't have done it without you, Williams. I think you are going to fit in here just fine. "

"Thanks Commander."

There was a sound, and out of reflex born of growing up on a ship, Shepard reached out and braced his hand against the wall as the Normandy dropped out of FTL. Williams caught herself at the last moment. Rhia nearly didn't and grabbed his arm with an annoyed scowl to keep from falling. He grinned. "Come on. If you haven't seen this sight, you don't want to miss it."

"Miss what?" Ashley asked in confusion.

"The Citadel."

* * *

_**Author Note:** Posted a bit early. I've got up to chapter 7 "done" and working on 8, minus going back and editing of course. Plan to have the next one up some time middle of next week, work permitting. _


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Location: Milky Way, Serpent Nebula, Widow System_

_SSV Normandy - Enroute to: The Citadel_

The Helm of the SSV Normandy was more cramped than normal as people crowded in front to get a good look at the Citadel. The Citadel was the center of galactic might in the majority of the galaxy, the seat of the Council's power. The massive space station was it's own self-contained oasis, with technology and power left over from the Protheans, the race that built the Mass Relays, that allowed travel across the galaxy, travel that would be nearly impossible with the standard FTL drives that most ships had.

The Citadel's five arms, capable of closing and sealing the station for it's own protection, were open, and dozens of ships were moving in and out around it, both on the way to the relay and toward the station to dock. Even now, his 5th time seeing it, Shepard had to marvel at it's size and grandeur. The Citadel was nearly 45km in length, dwarfing any and all constructions by any known race to date, and housed 13 million residents.

Joker was deftly moving his hands over the controls of the Normandy as he slowed their approach on the citadel, and angled to give off a bit of a show.

"And, ladies and gentlemen, off the port side you have the Citadel, the center of Council space, and a big damn space station to boot. If you will also direct your attention off our starboard side, you can catch a glimpse of the Destiny Ascension. "

Ashley let out a breath in a gasp of awe. "Look at the size of that thing."

From his seat in the co-pilot chair, Kaidan leaned back to get a better look. "The Ascension is the flagship of the Citadel fleet. I heard it's got more than 10,000 crew on board."

Joker snorted. "Well, size isn't everything."

Ashley quirked a half smile at him "Why so touchy, Joker?"

"I'm just saying you need firepower, too."

John grinned as he pointed to the Ascension, leaning over Ashley to do so "Well, that Asari dreadnaught has it spades.

Ashley followed his finger and her eyes widened. "Look at that monster! Its main gun could rip through the barriers on any ship in the Alliance fleet."

"Good thing it's on our side, then." commented Kaidan.

Rhia looked out the window, her eyes wide as she took in the view, her hands on the back of Joker's chair. She dropped one hand to the other man's shoulder finally. "Enough site seeing for today Joker. Take us up."

The flight Lieutenant nodded and punched the communications up. "Citadel Control, this is SSV Normandy, requesting permission to land."

The gravelly voice of a turian answered him. "Stand by for clearance, Normandy."

There was only a momentary pause before the com clicked again. "Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."

"Roger, Alliance Tower. Normandy out." Answered Joker. He looked over at Kaidan and started ticking down on his fingers from 5. Right as he got to zero, the com unit click again. Rhia had to suppress her grin as Kaidan rolled his eyes.

"Normandy, this is Alliance Tower. Please proceed to dock four-two-two."

"Confirmed Alliance Tower. Dock four-two-two." Joker muted the com unit. "I swear, it's just like clockwork. Same exact timing, every single time.

Rhia laughed. "Someday, they are going to switch it on you just to prove you wrong."

Joker shook his head. "Not a chance. Would upset their finally tuned sense of order. Besides this way, if Citadel Control doesn't answer in the exact right manner they do now, we will know that the Citadel is clearly compromised, and that we should be sending in the cannon fod-...uh, Marines. I mean Marines. "

Rhia gently squeezed his shoulder. "Only if you come along for the ride, Joker."

"Yeah, if you wanna see me snap a shin bone coming down the airlock. If I can get that far, sure, I'll help you mount an assault to take back the Citadel. Just let me know when. "

John shook his head at the banter, "Of course Joker. Wouldn't want to leave you out of the fun."

"Aye aye Commander. Have fun down there trying to convince the Council to do something about the whole angry-at-humanity bird-alien. I'm sure they will love hearing their golden boy Saren has lost his marbles and hooked up with the killer machine people."

"My fault Commander. Joker was on the Com-Unit for part of my debriefing with the Captain. He insisted I give him the rest of the story when I came on shift up here." said Kaidan with a bit of a chagrined face.

John waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I'd rather we all know what we are up against. Just don't go spreading it around where Anderson can hear, he won't be happy to hear the whole ship knows just yet."

"Yes sir."

Joker moved his hands over the holographic controls, and the Normandy smoothly shifted its approach, moving inside the arms of the Citadel. The sight from the inside of the station was almost even more impressive. Spire of buildings jutted out from each of the arms, looking like individual cities linked by the massive architectural masterpiece of the Presidium, the central ring and most elaborate portion of the Citadel's construction. The gleaming heart of the citadel, 10km wide was the home to the government offices of all the races of the council, both its members as well as the embassies of all the other races represented in Citadel Space.

"Come on Chief, Major. Let's get out of their hair. Kaidan, if Anderson didn't already tell you to, I want the ground team to meet with the Ambassador. I didn't get full picture there at the end and I want no questions that we can't answer."

"Yes sir. Gear?"

"Side arms. We are on the Citadel, I don't think we will get away with much else beyond that with C-Sec."

"Yes sir. I'll meet you at the airlock once we are docked."

"See you Commander." Drawled Joker before he once again focused on his screens, smoothly guiding the Normandy into its berth.

* * *

It took them about thirty minutes after docking for them to make their way to the Human Embassy. An Asari, the beautiful blue skinned members of the council, was at the desk to the Embassies looked up as they arrived.

"Captain David Anderson?" She asked as they approached. At his nod she continued. "Ambassador Udina is expecting you. He's on with the Council right now, though he should be done momentarily. He asked to have you sent up when you arrive. "

"Thank you ma'am." He rumbled, and motioned toward a pair of double doors. John felt a moment of unease as he started to follow Anderson, and looked back. The Asari receptionist was watching him, a look of...he wasn't sure. But it made him uncomfortable. It reminded him of some kind of predator that had just spotted prey. He shrugged and hastened his step until he was out of her line of sight.

With the size of the Citadel, he thought maybe it would be harder to locate the Human Embassy. In reality though, he really just needed to follow the sound of angry voices. Anderson made a hushing sound as they stepped through the doorway.

A man whom he assumed was Ambassador Udina was fuming in front of the holographic projections of a Turian, an Asari, and a Salarian, the representatives of the Citadel Council.

"This is an outrage! If the Geth had attacked a Turian Colony, the Council fleet would already be there." Snapped Udina. He was nearly red in the face, and had clearly already been at this for a while.

"The Turian's don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems, Ambassador." Answered the Salarian. His large round amphibian eyes blinking periodically as he spoke.

"Humanity was well aware of the ricks when you went into the Traverse." Chided the Asari. She made it sound almost motherly, like a woman quietly scolding her child. She didn't look happy about it though, but Shepard didn't know much about the Asari in general, or the Councilor in particular.

"What about Saren? You can't ignore a rogue Spectre, I demand action be taken!" Snapped Udina, clearly not to be dissuaded by their tones.

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador." Growled Turian Councilor. The alien mandibles clicked in clear irritation. The militaristic aliens were not known for their patience, and Udina was clearly trying his.

"Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing. Not before." Cut in the Asari Councilor before it could any farther. Clearly the peacemaker among the lot of them. "We will see you in three hours, Ambassador. If you have any additional evidence that you have found, you may present it then. Until then, good day."

The Holographic com cut off, leaving the Ambassador scowling. He looked over one shoulders at the shore party before returning to his desk.

"Captain Anderson. I see you brought half you crew with you."

Anderson kept a straight face as he answered the already clearly uptight ambassador. "Just the ground team from Eden Prime, in case you had any questions.

"I have the mission reports, I assume they are accurate?"

"They are. Sounded like you convinced the Council to give us an audience."

Udina let out a small mirthless laugh. "They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason."

John felt his temper flare and he straightened as he spoke, coming to attention with his hands behind his back. "With all due respect Ambassador, Saren showed himself to be a threat. Until we know what his motivations are, he's a threat to every human colony out there. He needs to be stopped."

"Settle down, Commander. You've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectre's. The mission on Eden Prime was a chance you could prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihilus ended up dead, and the beacon was destroyed."

Captain Anderson snapped back. "That was Saren's fault, not theirs."

Udina whipped back around locking a glare on the Captain that dropped the temperature in the room 20 degrees. "Then we had better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations. Otherwise, the Council might use this as an excuse to keep them both out of the Spectre's." He glanced pointed at both Rhia and John briefly before continuing. "I want to go over a few things before the hearing, Captain. Your people can meet us there. I'll make sure you have clearance to get into the Citadel Tower."

Captain Anderson glanced over at his XO. "Your dismissed, Commander. I'll see you at the hearing."

He nodded back and gave him a quick a salute, mirrored by the other soldiers, before turning and stepping back out of the office. He heard Udina's voice snap at Anderson one more time before the door close, cutting off the conversation. Just as the door sealed closed, Ashley, who had stayed quiet through the whole affair, muttered under hear breath. He looked over at her quizzically. She blushed. "Sorry Sir. I shouldn't have said that about the Ambassador."

"I'm pretty sure he deserved it." He looked around, thinking. "We have a couple of hours to kill before we have to be at the Tower. Suggestions?"

Rhia said thoughtfully. "I've never actually been on the Citadel before, so I'm game."

"Sounds like a plan to me skipper," said Ashley with an agreeable nod.

Kaidan just shrugged. "I'm fine with a stroll through the park so to speak. Beats going back to the Normandy."

The four of them walked through the Presidium grounds, making small talk as they walked. The Citadel's Presidium was a feat of engineering, replicating the comfortable verdant atmosphere that reminded him of his visits to Earth, and a little of Eden Prime. All over the Presidium, there were trees growing, both in small parks and coming up from small enclosures to give parts of the Presidium the illusion of walking through a slightly urban forest. Grass, flower…the sky was artificial sunlight that somehow generated a gentle breeze, and even included clouds somehow. And in dozens of spots you could overlook the Presidium Lakes, which doubled as reservoirs for the Citadel Wards, the five arms of the Citadel that housed the majority of the citadel's residents. He knew the Citadel even had a day-night cycle, even though it was a shorter six hours of darkness.

John looked back at as Rhia stopped to examine the rather imposing Krogan Monument. The Monument had been built at the end of the Rachni Wars, when the insect-like aliens had rampaged across the galaxy, pushing the other races to the brink of utter defeat. In despiration, the Salarians had intervened by uplifting the Krogan, giving the durable war-like aliens the knowledge and weapons to fight the war. The Krogan took to it with a vengeance, eventually completely exterminating the Rachni.

John waited on her as she looked up at it, her face thoughtful as she turned and followed them. Rhia caught him watching her and shrugged.

"Sorry, ignore me. Just was a thinking."

"Deep thoughts?"

"Always." She said with a grin, then shrugged. "It's just that, even after the Krogan Rebellion, the statue is still here. And with the whole Genophage thing, I just was wondering if this might be the last testament of the Krogan someday. " Ashley and Kaidan looked at Rhia and then John in confusion. Rhia caught the look then clarified. "I took a few advanced alien species and history classes at the academies. The Krogan Rebellion nearly overthrew the Council, until the Salarians developed the Genophage. The Turian Hierarchy used it, cutting the Krogan birth rate by about a 1000%. "

The two junior officers looked horrified. John kept his face in a calm mask. While on one hand, he knew the Salarians had reason for it, on the other it made him sick to think of the consequences. Rhia continued her explanation, "The Genophage supposedly reduced the Krogan birth rate to what it was prior to the Salarian intervention when they uplifted them, replicating the natural mortality rates from Tuchanka. But from all the information I've seen, the Krogan are going to die out either from the Genophage or from their own infighting. Just...made me think." She shrugged, looking a bit embarrassed.

"That...that's horrible." muttered Ashley.

"The Council was desperate. They had barely recovered from the Rachni, when their own saviors turned on them. " Said John quietly. " It's horrible, but so have been a lot of things in our own history. No one is perfect by any means." He looked over at Rhia. "We just have to make the best of what we are given."

Rhia shrugged again. "It's history. Like I said, just got me thinking."

John suddenly smirked as he tried to lighten the suddenly grim mood.. "I was just thinking that I think your statue is actually bigger."

Rhia groaned at his words, and buried her face in her hand. "My god, I hate you right now. That thing is a travesty."

Ashley's eyes widened. "That's why you looked so familiar. You're the Hero of the Skylian Blitz. "

Rhia's cheeks started to do it's best to match the color of her hair. "Please never use that title anywhere near me, ever again." She begged plaintively. "I was on Elysium, I fought pirates, I plugged a hole in the line. You all would have done the exact same thing."

John smiled. "Oh, I don't know. I think it's a perfect likeness. I could probably pull some pictures up on the extranet if we want to compare..."

Rhia's gaze turned murderous. "Johnathan Michael Shepard, I swear to God, if you do, I will throw you in the Presidum Lake. From here." She pointed to emphasize her point. The three of them looked back the way she was pointing. The lake was nearly 50 feet away.

Kaidan raised an eyebrow. "There are some trees in the way."

Rhia turned her glare on him and he blanched a bit. "John's head is hard. It wouldn't be an issue."

John slowly moved his hand away from his OMNI tool in mock surrender. "I promise I will not post pictures of you next to the statue. At least not until I can get to safety."

"I haven't' known the Major long, but I think that might be the last thing you ever do. Sir." Ashley observed.

Rhia didn't say anything, just glared at John for several long moments. Kaidan was doing his best to no laugh, and even Ashley had a small grin on her face. John also noticed that at some point in the conversation both of them had stepped to the relative safely created by standing behind Rhia and out of her direct line sight.

"Alright, no pictures. I promise. " He turned and looked ahead at the Presidium, and pointed up to one side. "We should have enough time to get something to eat before we need to heat to the Council Tower. Let's go see what we can find."

"Distracting me with food, even good food, still isn't going to make me forget that. I find pictures of that hunk of metal anywhere near me, I am coming to find you." She warned as she stepped past him.

"Duly noted."

It took them a little longer than he expect to reach the various outdoor restaurants, though once there, picking out a cafe at random wasn't too hard. A few minutes later they were all munching happily on several different small meals, most of which was mostly human cuisine in origin, but with some changes or additions made from the original recipes, to account for different ingredients to be found in the galaxy at large. It made for an interesting little meal, and a thankful change from the normal fleet rations that they could aboard ship. After several minutes, John pushed his plate away.

"We probably need to get moving. We don't want to be late."

Rhia rose with him. "Considering what little we have as evidence, I don't want to give them any more reason to discount anything" She agreed. The others rose as well and they made their way to the Citadel Tower, the epicenter of the Citadel.

* * *

Rhia had never seen something quite like the Council Chambers. This was the real heart of the Citadel, where all the decision and actions of nearly all known space were decided. She looked around as the room arched up above them, ascending stairs that widened in beautiful network of intertwining trees, their leaves a radiant violent, magenta, lilac and amber, that practically shimmer and shine in the soft radiance that lit the whole council chamber. As the stairs continued their gentle rise the floor was replaced with glass with more gardens of trees and flowers beneath, allowing anyone standing on the Petitions Stage, the center platform that was used for dignitaries and Ambassadors to speak to the council, to have the illusion being suspended in the air over the garden beneath while the Councilors themselves looked down from the next tier. To either side, balconies allowed observers to look down over the Petitions Stage and the Council Podiums as well. And behind the Council themselves was an impressive view of the Citadel interior, it's arms open, starlight and the glow of the Horse Head Nebula pouring in.

As the four of them mounted the first set of stairs, Rhia heard a pair of Turian voices, their distinct tones sounding decidedly heated.

"Saren's hiding something. Give me more time, stall them!" Pleaded the first, a Citadel Security officer by the blue, black and grey uniform.

"Stall the Council?" Said the other with almost a laugh of incredulity. "Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus. I'll report your finds, or lack there-of, to Councilor Sparatus."

Garrus growled in what had to be frustration as they passed him, before turning and storming down the stairs that they had just come up. Rhia followed him, even turning to watch the C-Sec officer for a moment. The second turian was already gone, walking rapidly ahead of them and through a door on the side of the room that presumably led up to the Councilors. Rhia stepped up her pace till she was even with John again, whispering as she did.

"That didn't sound promising at all."

"No, it didn't. We'll see though, I don't want to give up just yet."

She nodded, but the feeling in her gut that they were in trouble, and just didn't know it yet, wouldn't go away. Captain Anderson was waiting ahead, standing at ease.

"Commander, Major. You are just in time. The Council is reviewing the C-Sec findings, as well as our own reports again, and will call us up in a moment." He said. "Enjoy the Presidium?"

They all nodded affirmatives. Rhia dimly heard Kaidan and Ashley comment about the Memorial, the food, but her focus was still on the Council and Saren. And Garrus. The officer knew something was up, but hadn't been able to prove it, not yet. A beep brought her attention back to Anderson.

"It's time. Come on."

Anderson lead them up the next two flight of stairs, to where Udina already stood. Councilor Tevos, the Asari Representative wasted no time in beginning once she saw Anderson and his crew. She turned addressing both Udina, as well as the holographic project of whom Rhia assumed had to be Saren.

"We have reviewed your individual reports, as well as the Citadel Security report. While the Geth attack is of some concern, there is nothing to indicate that Saren was involved in any way. "

Rhia watched Saren as the Councilor spoke, and she felt her skin crawl just a bit as his eyes settled on her judging, before moving on to the others. He was tall for a turian, thin, with several obvious cybernetic implants or maybe even replacement limbs. Unlike almost every other Turian she had ever met, he did not wear any face paint or clan markings, causing the combination of his carapace's pale color and his stark blue eyes giving him more than a little resemblance to a skull in her mind. For just a moment as the Asari Councilor spoke, she would have sworn he was smirking.

"The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason." Continued the turian councilor in an even tone.

"An eye witness saw Saren kill Nihilus is cold blood!" Udina protested, looking back and forth between the two aliens.

The Salarian Councilor cut him off with a raise of his hand before Udina could speak further. " We have read the Eden Prime report, Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatized dock worker is hardly compelling proof."

"I resent these accusations." Growled Saren as he crossed his arms in disdain. "Nihilus was a fellow Spectre, and a friend."

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Shouted Anderson. Rhia blinked in surprise. And stole a look at Anderson briefly. He was practically shaking in fury, his gaze locked on Saren with absolute murder in his eyes.

Saren turned slowly, as if just for the first time noticing her superior officer, though Rhia could see it was just a ploy. The Spectre had not missed a single detail about the group who stood to accuse him, she would bet ever dollar she owned on that fact. And when Saren spoke, his voice dripped with scorn.

"Captain Anderson. You always seem to be involved when humanity brings false charges against me. And these must be your two proteges. Commander Johnathan Shepard, and Major Rhiannon Shepard. The ones who let the beacon be destroyed."

Rhia took a step forward and clasped her hands behind her back, her voice calm but clear as she stared back at Saren. "With all due respect, I was under the impression that the mission to Eden Prime was top secret and that the only ones aware of the Beacon were the Councilors, Nihilus, and the ground team from Eden Prime. So, with that information, how did you know about the Beacon?"

She could have sworn that for just a moment the Turian hesitated, a glimmer of surprise at her clear, but respectful, challenge. But he was quick.

Saren waved a hand dismissively. "With Nihilus gone, his files passed to me. I read the Eden Prime report." He looked both at John, then back to her, his tone again dripping scorn. "I was unimpressed. But then, what can you expect…from a human."

Rhia ignored the verbal jab, and continued to stare into his eyes, though she seethed inside at his clear prejudice, though she addressed the Council as a whole instead. "Saren despises humanity. That alone could be why he attacked Eden Prime. The Beacon was only additional incentive. "

Saren growled. "Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard. You aren't ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres."

Udina sputtered in fury, pointing and accusing finger at Saren. "He has no right to say that! That's not his decision."

Councilor Tevos turned her own glare on Saren. "The Commander and Major's admission into the Spectre's is not the purpose of this meeting." She said, her tone carrying more than a hint of frost.

Saren snapped back. "This meeting HAS no purpose. The Humans are wasting your time Councilor, and mine."

John spoke quietly, just barely audible enough for the Council and Saren to hear. "You won't be able to hide behind the Council forever, Saren. "

"There is one outstanding issue: Commander Shepard's vision. We know from studying previous Prothean technology, that it's possible for information to be passed with a touch. His vision may have been triggered by the beacon."

Saren scoffed. "Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? How can I defend my innocence against THAT kind of testimony?"

Rhia winced. She knew that they had to mention it, but even she could see the reason in Saren's words. Advanced technology or no, dreams and visions were not something she would want a trial to be based on if she was the defending herself. Apparently the Turian Councilor agreed.

"Our judgment must be made on facts and evidence. " Sparatus said with a shake of his head." Not wild imaginings or reckless speculation."

Councilor Valern, spoke again, his large amphibian eyes blinking slowly as he spoke. "Do you have anything else to add, Commander? Major?"

Rhia shook her head. "No Councilor."  
"You have already made your decision. I won't waste my breath. " growled John.

Councilor Tevos let out a little sigh as she glanced to her left and right at the other Councilors, exchanging little nods. "The Council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the Geth. Ambassador Udina, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectre's is denied. "

Saren clasped his hands behind, standing a bit straighter as he looked down at the human delegation. "I'm glad to see that the justice was served. Good day Councilors." With that, he reached forward and touched something out of sight, and the hologram vanished.

"This meeting is adjourned." Finished Tevos as she stepped back and turned to leave. Udina turned himself, motioning for them to follow him. He led them back down the stairs off the Petitioners Stage and to a small alcove to one side of the chambers, before whirling on Captain Anderson.

"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing, Captain. You and Saren have too much history! It made the Council question our motives."

"I know Saren. He's working with the Geth for one reason: To exterminate the human race. Every colony we have is at risk, every world we control is in danger. I wouldn't think it too far to say the even Earth isn't safe!" Anderson snapped back, his hands clenching into fists, his face flushed.

"Then we deal with Saren ourselves. " Said John as he crossed his arms.

"I am all for that plan. I would love to show him exactly how unimpressed with him I am." Rhia said softly.

"As a Spectre, he's virtually untouchable. He can go anywhere, do almost anything. We must find some way to expose him or we will never be able to reach him."

Kaidan spoke up thoughtfully. "What about Garrus, that C-Sec officer we passed coming in? He sounded like he was arguing with the Executor over the investigation."

"That's right!" Exclaimed Ashley. "He was asking for more time to finish his report. Maybe he was close to finding something on Saren."

"C-Sec is mostly Turians, and I can't expect we will get much help from them if they even get an idea on what we are up to. How do we find him?" Rhia asked.

Udina rubbed his chin as he spoke slowly. "I do have a contact in C-Sec that might be able to help us track down Garrus. His name is Harkin."

Anderson immediately shook his head. " Forget it. Harkin was suspended last month for drinking on the job. I wouldn't waste any time with that loser. "

"It's a good thing you won't have to then. I don't want you anywhere near this investigation from this point forward. I will not give the Council any reason, especially your past history with Saren, to ignore anything we turn up. The Commander and his team will handle this."

"You can't just cut the Captain out of this." John said. "He-"

"No Commander. The Ambassador is right. I need to step aside." Anderson grimaced. "I don't like it, but Udina is right. Saren will try to paint anything I come up with in the worst light, and the Council could believe him. You might stand a chance."

"I need to take care of some other business." Udina said, nodding to them. "Captain meet me in my office later. Commander, keep me informed of your progress."

"Yes Ambassador." John said with a nod as Udina turned, heading back to the elevator. John turned back to the Captain. "It's not a great lead, but do you know where we can find Harkin."

Anderson shook his head. "Probably getting drunk at Chora's Den. It's a dingy little club in the lower section of the Wards." He looked at the four of them. "Be careful, and watch each others backs. Saren is a cold hearted bastard at best, and a monster at worse. He has no conscience, never hesitates. He'd kill a thousand innocent civilians to end a war without a second thought."

"Killing civilians isn't how you end wars. It's how you start them."

"I know that. And sometimes you are forced to make unpleasant decisions in war. But only if there is no other way. Saren doesn't look for any other way." Anderson looked suddenly very old and tired as he put a hand on both Rhia's and Johns shoulders. "Good luck, both of you. I hope you don't need it."

* * *

_**Author's Note: ** Thank you for reading. It's come to my attention that my story shares both a marked resemblance in name and style to another story. by xXWintersDescent's. This was entirely unintentional, so I am am probably going to change the title here at some point, once I think of something that I like/fits. I'm not sure WHAT yet...but it's on the to-do list (which continues to grow). If someone has any suggestions, drop me a PM, i'm open to them. _

_In other news, I'm still managing to stay about 2 chapters head of editing. The plan from this point forward is to post a chapter a week, assuming I can keep the current pace, with the mostly likely dates of posting being friday or saturday. If I could do this full time, it would be faster, but alas, I work for a living. XD_

_Last but not least, as I'm both writing and editing this, if anyone notes any glaring errors or grammar problems or whatever, feel free to drop me a PM or something so I can fix them. I do my best to make sure it's as good as I can before I post, but I miss things, and I know I know it, so don't hesitate to correct me if you see somethin. Thank you! _


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Location: Milky Way, Serpent Nebula, Widow System – The Citadel _

_The Lower Wards_

Chora's Den, Rhia decided, was not just dingy. Dingy was too good of a word for it, she thought as she looked around at the dimly lit room, packed with a mix of nearly sixty humans, turians, asari, even a few krogan, their massive forms parting the crowds. A half dozen asari maidens writhed in time with the music, dancing in outfits that could barely be described as "skimpy"

Ashley shook her head. "A million light years for where humanity began, only to find a bar filled with men drooling over half naked women shaking their asses on stage. I can't decide whether that's funny or sad."

"What? You don't think they're here because of the food?"

Rhia raised an eyebrow and looked over at Kaidan. The other biotics face was schooled in a mask of innocence. Ashley shoved him in and pushed ahead. "Let's just find this guy."

John was already ahead of the game, and tapped Ashley's shoulder as he pointed. "There. C-Sec uniform in the back."

Rhia tracked the direction he was pointing to a slightly heavyset man, leaning back in his chair, leering openly at a pair of dancers. He was balding slightly and he had his oily hair slicked over to cover the fact as much as he could. His small beady eyes were scrunched in close to his nose, giving him an almost vulture like quality eyeballing its next meal. "That him?" She asked.

"I think so, based on Anderson's description." John said as he started to take a step forward, and Rhia stuck her hand out to stop him, putting her hand on his shoulder and turning so that her back was to the rest of the room.

"Wait, let me try." She glanced back at Harkin again. "Soft touch might work better here."

John raised an eyebrow at her. "Soft touch? Who are you and where is the real Rhi"

Rhia glared at him. "Go get me a drink. Come get me out if things look like they are going ugly.

He grinned and nodded after a moment. "Alright. Ashley, keep an eye on the door?"

"Sure thing commander."

He and Kaidan passed her, heading toward the bar, while Rhia started to weave her way through the press of people to reach the far side of the room where Harkin, or at least who she hoped was Harkin, was sitting. She finally had to elbow her way past a turian who staggered into her, barely able to stand, and slipped to the far side before she finally did have to stop, the massive form of three Krogan barring her way.

"Back off, Wrex. Fist told us to take you down if you showed up." Growled the first. He pointed one claw hand at the huge scarred krogan opposite the pair.

The massive form in front of her was not impressed. "What are you waiting for? I'm standing right here." He tilted his head a bit, one reptilian looking eye judging the clearly younger pair of bouncers. "This is Fists only chance. If he's smart he'll take it.

The first one slashed his hand across in a negative motion. "He's not coming out. End of Story."

"This story is just beginning." The krogan they had called Wrex said as he let out a mirthless chuckle, and turned to go, coming face to face with Rhia. Even by Krogan standards, Wrex was formidable, towering over her, his broad stocky body filling up her vision. His natural armored plates that covered his head were scarred with the signs of battle, and his reptilian eyes a brilliant shade of green. The alien's eye narrowed a bit as it looked at her, and Rhia was suddenly aware of just how much smaller than him he was. And how many very shark-like teeth he had. Wrex growled in irritation at her. "Out of my way human, I have no quarrel with you."

Rhia side stepped neatly, clearing a way for the older Krogan, just watching him as he strode past. The crowd of people parted for him, like an old sailing ship on the water skimming through the waves. Rhia watched him a moment more before turning back to her target.

Apparently nearly getting run over by the Krogan was enough to pull Harkin's attention away from the dancers for a moment. He fingered his glass as he watched her come close enough to read his ID tag. This was Harkin...and now that she was this close, she wished she wasn't.

"Well, I haven't seen you down here before..." Harkin drawled, his breath so heavy with drink that it was probably flammable. She mused with that pleasant idea in her mind. "...what can I do ya for?"

"I was told you might be able to help me. I'm looking for someone. "

Harkin smiled, a slimy expression if ever there was one. "Well, you found someone alright. Sit down, have a drink...we can...get to know each other."

"Maybe another time, _if_ you can help me."" She deflected before sitting down in the seat across from him. "Ambassador Udina sent me. I need to find a C-Sec Investigator, a Turian named Garrus."

Harkin just snorted. "What would a babe like you want with Vakarian? What, get your kinks off with aliens, hmm?" His gaze sharpened a bit as he looked more closely. "Or maybe you are part of Captain Anderson's crew? _Normandy_ I think it was? How is the good Captain? He still look down his nose at everyone?" He took a long pull of his drink.

Rhia stiffened. He was sharper than he looked she realized belated. "Even if I am, that doesn't change why I am here."

"Oh but it does. See, Anderson and I got some...history. And if it's to help him, I don't think I have enough motivation. Unless you feel like showing me some good will first." He leered at her, the same hungry expression he had used on the dancers lighting his face.

Rhia narrowed her eyes.

* * *

"Uh, sir, I think now would be the right time to pull the Major out." Remarked Kaidan, an edge of both concern and amusement in his voice. John looked back over his shoulders at where Rhia was sitting with the C-Sec officer just in time to see her stand. He could see her tense, snapping something at the other man. Harkin blanched a bit and leaned away from her.

John watched for a second more, then turned back smiling and picked up the other drink and stood. "Meet us at the door."

"Yes sir."

He shouldered his way through the crowd till he was just step or two behind Rhia, just as he heard her mutter through clenched teeth. "_Thank you, _for your help, Officer." She rested one whitening knuckle on the table as little bits of dark azure energy flickered around her. The table, and Harkin's drink, jumped, coming down and sending the glass spilling over him. Rhia whirled away, and upon seeing him, snagged the drink from his hand and downed it almost instantly. She made a face at him, but said nothing, and proceeded to storm through the crowd to the front of Chora's Den, leaving him to follow in her wake.

Rhia stored past the slightly bewildered looking Kaidan and Ashley and out the doors, leaving him to shrug helplessly at the pair as he followed her.

Rhia leaned on the railing that overlooked the levels below them. "What the hell kind of drink _was _that. I feel like I am going to be sick."

"Asari Firewine. And you aren't supposed to drink it all at once. What did you find out?"

"That next time I keep my mouth shut, and that you do the talking. That Harkin is a complete pig. That Garrus has been hanging around the Medical Clinic in the wards about a klick from here . Oh, and the address of Garrus's apartment. If he's at neither of those, then he should be at C-Sec Headquarters." She stretched and looked over at him, and glowered at the expression she found there and protested. "Hey, I got the information. Just cause I about decided to throw him out the nearest airlock should not count against me on this one."

"I will admit, you got results." He said with a small smile. "Shall we go find this clinic then?" John glanced over his shoulder at the other two as he turned to go, just as the door to Chora's Den slide open, disgorging a pair of turians just about staggered into Kaidan as they spoke quickly to each other, barely seeing where they were going. He had taken two steps in the direction of the cab station, when a snapping hiss reverberated through the walkway. Rhia let out a sudden sharp cry of pain, and John spun, his sidearm blurring into his hand as his mind locked on to the important facts of the situation:

Behind the crew of the Normandy, the two turians that had exited right behind them had drawn a pair of small pistols, equipped with some kind of silencer, had opened fire. Rhia was hit, blood covering her shoulder as she staggered back to her feet. Kaidan lashed out, his own biotic's flaring brightly in an azure bloom of power that he slammed into the nearest Turian, sprawling him. Ashley meanwhile, had engaged the second assailant, gouging at his eyes and ducking under the backhanded swing the lanky alien lashed her way in response. John felt emptiness of combat settle over him, and he sighted down the pistol at the two turians.

The door to Chora's Den hissed open again, and a third of the spiny armored aliens stepped out, leveling a shotgun at Kaidan's back.

John switched targets, took two quick steps to clear the LT from the line of fire, and squeezed the trigger before the turian finished lining up his shot. The third hitman took the bullet straight through one eye, bluish blood spraying out the back of the would-be assassin's skull in a spray that coated the wall.

Ashley hammered a fist into her opponents jaw, and dropped into a spin, bringing her the heel of her foot into the exposed knee joint. The alien howled in pain, and her next blow slammed into the aliens chest driving it down into the railing painfully. Her next blow, a knee to his chin, connect with a crack that sounded like breaking bone, and the turian went limp.

A series of snap-hisses resounded over the choking gasps of the turian that Ashley had hammered to the floor, and Kaidan shouted as he dove to one side. John shot twice, hardly aiming, more to make the Turian flinch than anything and ducked down behind cover, and glanced at Rhia.

She looked pale, her side and arm of her gray shirt stained with blood. And she was angry, her blue-grey eyes practically sparking in fury and pain. Before John could stop her, she scrambled to her feet, her hand shoved forward in a warding gesture, and sparks of biotic energy blazed off her, forming a barrier between her and the repeated pistol fire from the last attacker. He leaned over to see, but it was over before he hardly could look. Rhia hurled a biotic throw that rebounded off the wall, and caught the turian in the back. The blast pitched him up and over the side of the guard rail to fall to his demise, somewhere 10 to 15 floors below them, screaming the entire way down. Rhia looked down at her handiwork, before sliding slowly to her knees.

John shoved the pistol back into his holster, and dove to catch from her fall, just barely making it. "Hang in there Major, I've got you. "

"H-how many times do I have to tell you, I hate it when you use my rank." She said shakily, shivering as she spoke. "Ow."

"Hold on Rhi. We'll get you to a medic." He looked up to the other two marines. Ashley was kneeling over the last surviving turian, who looked dazedly up at her. Kaidan slid forward kneeling next to them, his OMNI-tool hand as he quickly scanned her.

"Commander, we need to get her somewhere quickly. I think she's going into shock, and she threw around a lot of biotics yesterday even before the beacon hit you two. She's still worn out." The lieutenant whispered to him.

John nodded. "Williams, take her. Get her to that Medical Clinic as fast as you can. It's the closest help we are going to have around here."  
"Yes sir." She looked at him, flickers of surprise on her face. " You are not coming?"

John looked down at Rhia and slowly shook his head. "We still need to find Garrus, and this was no random attack. These had to have been Saren's men. We are onto something, he knows it, and I….WE are going to nail him with it. I don't want to risk them going after Garrus too."

Ashley nodded and leaned down, pulling Rhia up carefully. Rhia bite down on her lip, cutting off a curse as she let the other woman pull her to her feet, leaning on her for support and looking pale. John looked pointedly at the Chief. "Take care of her."

Ashley nodded sharply. "Yes sir. "

A sharp snapping popping sound dragged everyone else attention to the unconscious turian. The aliens face was just….gone. Blue gore and bits of dark bone and face plating littered the walkway.

"He-he just exploded" said Kaidan with a shaky stutter, his eyes wide as he took a step back. "One second he was unconscious, next his face was just….gone…"

"Someone didn't want questions answered". John said quietly. "And is doing everything he can to cover his tracks. Which means we need to double our efforts." John looked at Ashley, who was still staring in confusion and shock at the new corpse. "Chief, get moving. Now."

"Aye aye Sir." She replied, snapped out of her shock by the order.

"Lieutenant, with me. We are going to go down to C-Sec, report what happened and see if we can find Garrus. Maybe they will get lucky with finding some answers and make this easy on all of us. "

"Yes sir."

John got one last look as Ashley supported Rhia, half-carrying her. The bullet wound looked even worse when seen from behind her, and he shook his head. He wanted to go with her, but Rhia was tough and would be fine. And Williams take care of her. He steeled himself, and with Kaidan, turned and headed down to report the incident.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Kaidan and John sat across from an extremely bored sounding Turian officer who took their statement. He fought the urge to grind his teeth in frustration and answered for the fourth time.  
"No, I did not recognize them or know them in any way."

"And you say that the individual in question produced a side arm, and shoot this…Major Rhiannon Shepard? And where is she."  
"I ordered Gunnery Chief Williams to take her immediately to the nearest Medical Clinic for treatment, after which I am sure they will both be happy to come here and collaborate my statement. "

"I see. And despite the ambush, you were able to disarm and kill all three of the attackers.  
"No. One was killed immediately. A second was presumably killed when he was knocked from the walkway. Chief Williams disabled the last assailant, who was killed when some kind of device in his mouth or head was detonated.

"I see, Commander. Tell you what, let start-"

"Officer, I've answered your questions. I have dutifully reported the incident, and am willing for C-Sec to corroborate my statements. I will not however, go over the same questions, again. I have a wounded officer and _friend_ who's condition is still unknown." John fixed the C-Sec officer with a glare. "Now, if you have any further questions in regard to this particular incident, I'm going to have to ask you refer them to the Human Embassy, unless you intend to arrest me."

The Turian starred at him a moment, calculating, before finally, almost with grudging respect, waved a hand. "That should not be necessary. I would like to talk to the other two members of your team when they are released, however."

"Fine. I'll let them know."

He stood and turn, walking out of office and into the main floor of C-Sec Headquarters, looking around. Here and there officers moved, some taking statements, others clearly escorting felons to holding cells.

"That was remarkably unproductive." Muttered Kaidan. "Should we head to the med clinic sir? Chief hasn't reported in yet on the Major's status."

John thought about the question as he glanced around, something catching his eye. "Major, isn't that the Krogan that made a huge scene in Chora's Den right when we came in?"

Kaidan followed his gaze, eyeing the massive scar faced Krogan. "I think so. I can't be completely certain I didn't get that good of a look, but it looks like him sir."

John kept watching the Krogan, getting chewed on by a pair of C-Sec officers, looking completely unimpressed. "….I'm going to follow a hunch."

The other marine shot him a confused look. "Uh, Okay?"

"Trust me."

John strode toward the Krogan.

* * *

Wrex glared down at the little human in the C-Sec uniform. It would be so easy to just reach out, grab him by the neck and break it. True, he would then have to fight his way clear of half of the Citadel Security force, but it would almost be worth the trouble.

"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fists bar. Stay away from him." Said the little man.

"I don't take orders from you."

The man squinted angrily. It made him look like a Pyjack. The man leaned in closer, glaring. Or it was supposed to be a glare, he guessed. "This is your only warning Wrex."

He settled for truth, leaning back in closer in response to the challenge. This little man wasn't worthy, but a challenge was a challenge. "You should warn Fist. I will kill him."

"Do you WANT me to arrest you?"

Wrex felt his face break out in a smile, pulling his lips back from his teeth. An intimidating sight to anyone who wasn't Krogan, and even to some of them. "I want you to try."

The officer glared for a moment longer, before waving his hand. "Get out of here."

Wrex snorted in laughter. C-Sec, be they humans, turians, Asari or Salarians, all of them were full of themselves. He turned and blinked, and for the second time today found himself nearly nose to nose with a strange human.

"Yes, human?"

"You were in Chora's Den earlier. I was curious why." Said the human simply.

Wrex eyed the man up and down. He was wearing a standard Alliance off-duty outfit, simple loose pants, a plain grey t-shirt. A simple "N7" in black and red was printed on his chest just about were his heart would be, and he was tall, muscled for being a human. But what caught Wrex's attention was not how he looked, but how he stood. This human, was a dangerous man. He carried himself with the cold confidence that he could bring death to any foe. He liked him.

"The owner and I have some business that will be attended to shortly. The Shadow Broker does not take kindly to being double crossed. "

The human frowned. "What did he do?"

"Fist decided that working for that Spectre, Saren, would be better in the long run. Too bad he won 't get to."

The human suddenly smiled in a predatory grin. "Wrex, I think you and I have some business of our own to discuss."

Warning bells suddenly rang through C-Sec, and several officers rushed to see what the commotion was. The human grabbed one by the arm as. "What happening?"

"Gunfire at the Medical Clinic in Zakara Ward. Dr. Michel's."  
The human whirled to his companion, a slightly shorter man with dark hair. Wrex didn't know human emotions well, hadn't dealt much with them, but even he could see the mixture of anger and fear that slipped into the man's next words. "That's where Ashley took Rhia."

* * *

_**Author Note: ** Just as a warning, RL has caught up with me this week and I've fallen behind in my writing a bit. I've still got another full chapter that I've finished and is just needing to be edited/proofread, but it's possible that I might have to extend out when I'm posting things here in the future if RL doesn't cooperate. _

_Also, apologies, this chapter jumps perspectives a bit. I have always loved Wrex as a character, and want to try and give him a bit of face time, especially considering that Garrus will get plenty later. _

_Last but not least, I as mentioned before, I am really considering changing the title of this at least somewhat, and thought of one while tinkering with my old copy of halo. Mass Effect Duality: By Sharp and Flame. Fits thematically in my mind. I haven't decided for certain yet, so opinions are welcome. Regardless, enjoy!_


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Location: Milky Way, Serpent Nebula, Widow System – The Citadel _

_Zakara Ward – Dr. Michel's Clinic_

* * *

There are better ways to spend your day, Rhia decided, than being shot. The ride to Dr. Michel's clinic didn't take long, after Ashley got a skycab, but getting into and out of the vehicle was a complete torture, as every single motion seemed to send pain down her entire body. She sagged against Ashley, trying to fight the feelings of dizziness and nausea that threatened to overwhelm her.

"Help! I need help here!" Shouted Ashley. Or least she thought Ash was shouting. It sounded odd, the words echoing strangely, taking on a tinny quality to the speech. The doctor's answer seemed to drone on her already drowsy mind.

"This way, quickly! What happened?"

"Gunshot, shoulder. " Was Ashley's terse and strained reply.

She felt the doctor touch her. Somehow she was on a table already. How did she get to the table that fast? Rhia blinked slowly, forcing the words to make sense.

"Major, can you hear me?"

Rhia turned, trying to focus on the woman speaking. The doctor? She wasn't' sure. She nodded numbly, blinking her eyes.

"Major, the bullet wound isn't as bad as it looks, but it's still in you. I need to remove it. Do you understand?"

Oh. The bullet was still in her. That's bad. She nodded again.

"Help me turn her."

Rhia felt hands gently lift her, rolling her to her side. A moment later a sharp pinch, then the pain in her shoulder seemed to almost instantly cease. "Was that it?" She mumbled.

"No Major, that was just a localized painkiller. I'm about to take the bullet out now."

She didn't feel it. In fact, she must have not felt a think, because as she blinked, she found herself staring at the ceiling with a disconcerting feeling of having lost time, her shoulder stiff and sore, a bandage wrapped around it. Her shirt had been removed, and replaced with a simple white t-shirt that was almost certainly not her own. Her stomach roiled in displeasure.

"Hey Major. How do you feel?

Rhia didn't answer as her stomach heaved. She leaned over, grabbing at a small basin and choked, retching into it. Ashley was at her side a moment later, pulling her hair back and keeping her from tumbling from the small medical bed.

"Hang tight ma'am. Doc is coming back in a moment, she should be able to give you something to help."

Rhia puked a second time, gagging, and held on to the small lifeline in front of her for several long minutes before she let Ashley take it away.

The other woman looked around and frowned. "I'm going to go find the Doc. Are you okay if I leave you for a moment?"

Rhia closed her eyes. "I'll try and not get into too much trouble while you are gone.."

A ghost of smile flickered on Ashley's face. "Of course ma'am. I'll be right back."

Rhia dimly heard the door hiss open and shut again, and she lay there, her head spinning slightly, the nausea she felt twisting her stomach into tight little knots, as she went over what had happened. She had been shot before, and been injured far worse, so why was she feeling like this? Was it side effect from the beacon maybe? That was a possibility, certainly. Though if that was the case, what other effects could it have had on her. She hadn't had any of the vivid dreams that John had described, at least not yet, but maybe it had affected her in other ways.

A thump and a muffled cry snapped her attention back to the present, and she sat up quickly, and immediately regretted it, the room spinning around her. It was still spinning when she tried to slide off the bed to her feet, her balance shaky so that she nearly dropped straight to floor. Her shoulder throbbed painfully, overriding whatever pain killers the doctor had pumped into her, and she had to keep a death-grip on the bed for several long moments before she felt stable enough to try moving again.

Two near falls, and a dozen unsteady steps got her to the door and muffled voices in angry tones echoed dimly from nearby. She reached for her side arm out of reflex, only to find it gone. She glanced around the room, but it wasn't in evidence. Either Ashley or the doctor had to have taken it. No armor. No gun. And so dizzy and nauseous that she could…no, likely _would_, pass out if she tried to use her biotics.

Rhia felt herself smile a bit at the absurdity. What's the point of life without challenges?

She hit controls to slide the door open, hoping no one was in the next room immediately and would see. After a moment, no one came to check it out, and she dared a look into the larger part of the clinics office. No one was in eyeshot, but she could hear voices nearby. She peeked left, but only two more closed doors were that way, a pair of waiting rooms like the ones she was in. To her right was the hall way, leading to the front office and main lobby of the clinic, and presumably to the Doctors office. To the right it was then.

She pushed off the door frame, braced on the wall for support as she walked, and made her way down the hall as quietly as she could manage, the voices in the lobby getting louder as she did, until she was next to the small window that looked out from the back to the front desk and lobby.

A man in non-descript clothes held a small worn, but entirely serviceable looking pistol to the back of a woman that Rhia assumed was the doctor, and crouched behind her, using her like a human shield. A second man stood about three paces away, his gun trained on Ashley. A third was on his back, holding his face as blood poured out of his nose, his pistol shakily pointing at up his assailant in his other hand..

Ashley had pressed her back against the wall, and had her own human shield. She hid behind the fourth and last thug, her own pistol flicking between her trio of targets. A second pistol was pointed squarely at the temple of her impromptu hostage and shield.

"Alliance bitch! Give up, you can't take us all. "

"I don't have to. You can't take me down without me getting at least two of you. And the second one of us starts shooting, C-Sec will swarm this place. I just have to survive long enough for them to get here. "

"And the doctor dies if you don't put the guns down. Want her blood on your hands?"

"Dr. Michel could very possibly die if I give up too. Or you could let her go, you three put the guns down and leave, and we all live another day. "

"Not going to happen. By the time C-Sec would get here, you will be a cooling corpse, unless you let Varis go, and put the guns down now."

"Oh, like you are going to keep your word." Snapped Ashley sarcastically, she flicked her gun to the man on the floor as he started to rise. "Stay down."

Rhia leaned back down. She didn't have a gun, didn't trust her aim now even if she did. And she might get one good biotic attack off at best, and would have to make it count. Ash could definitely take two of them, but the doctor would get shot almost certainly unless the man holding her was the first one taken out, and Ashley wouldn't risk that shot unless she had no other option. Which meant Rhia had to do it. _Oh boy. This is going to hurt_.

She pulled herself back into a position she could see, her teeth grinding against the pain in her shoulder, in her head, as she raised her injured arm slowly.

The door to Medical Clinic hissed open and Rhia barely had time to register a turian in a Citadel Security body armor step into the room, leveled his pistol at the man holding the doctor, and shot him cleanly through the head. The man flopped limply to one side

The moment the turian fired, Ashley exploded into action, burying a pair of shots into the man whose nose she had broken, and simultaneously gunning down her impromptu shield as she dove for the floor.

The last thug hesitated, his gun aimed at the wall where Ash had been, and trying to reconcile the fact his allies lives had just been snuffed out. He finally started to spin, his gun hand swinging around on the Officer. Rhia shouted a wordless cry of warning and clenched her fist, sending rivulets of power streaking from her and ripping into the last gunman. The man screamed as the rapidly shifting and vibrating mass effect field that had struck him rent and twisted him. She heard a series of cracks as several of the man's bones broke, and the man went limp.

Rhia sagged as the world spun, her head pounding, everyone's voices taking on an echo and she struggled to stay upright.

"Major!" Ashley pounded around the corner, and slid under her shoulder, supporting her weight on her good side. "Damn it, Doc! Doctor Michel, I need you here!"

Rhia shook her head, feeling the world slowly starting to come back into focus, the spinning sensation slowing. "I'm okay. Honestly Chief, just get me to a seat." Ashley growled in frustration, probably at her commanding officers refusal for more help, before finally setting her down in the receptionist chair a few feet away. Freed from the need to try and keep on her feet, she finally had a chance to regard the room and its remaining inhabitants.

She let her mind shut out the cooling bodies of the men that had just been killed. A little part of her screamed at it, but she had seen enough death and dying that for now she could shut that part of her mind away until she could deal with it. Doctor Michel was shaking, holding her arms protectively across her body, looking at the floor in horror, periodically brushing back dark brown hair from her fair complexion in a manner that looked both habitual and a nervous tick at the same time. Ashley had slumped on the floor a few feet away, looking exhausted suddenly, her dark brown eyes hidden as she closed her eyes. She blew a strand of hair out of her face before idly tucking it away.

The C-SEC officer was talking quietly to the obviously traumatized Doctor. He moved with the same avian grace that Nihlus had, if a fractionally bit more cautious. His clan markings on his face were blue, running across his nose and under his eyes, and he had a very non-standard looking combat visor over one eye. He glanced over, and seeing her watching him said one last thing quietly to Dr. Michel, before stepping over to where they were sitting. Dr. Michel disappeared into the back of the clinic.

"Major Shepard. I'm glad to see you and Chief Williams are alright. "

"Thank you. I was just about to kick things off myself when you showed up."

"I'm glad you waited for me to tag along for the ride." He said, his tone warm. His mandibles twitched in what she took was probably a smile. "I already took Chloe's statement, but could you two tell me what happened?"

Rhia shook her head. "No idea. We were both in the back. Ashley left to find Dr. Michel, and then I heard shouting. I came to see what was going on, and found the same stand-off you saw when you came in."

He nodded and looked down at Ashley, punching in something on his Omni-tool. "Chief Williams?"

"Doctor had left, saying she would come check on the Major in a few minutes. When Major Shepard woke up, and seemed actually worse rather than better, I thought maybe the Doctor should have a look and went to find her. Found these four threatening her, demanding that she tell no one anything." She glanced at the name tag on his armor. "Specifically, Officer Vakarian, I think they were telling her to not tell you anything."

Rhia blinked up, the name finally clicking into place. "Vakarian. Garrus Vakarian." She blurted out suddenly.

"…yes, that is my name." The alien cocked his head to one side to regard her curiously. "Have we met, Major?"

Rhia shook her head. "No. But we were trying to find you. We wanted to ask you about Saren."

Garrus eyes narrowed a bit. "What about Saren?" He asked cautiously. "I already gave my report to the Council."

"And I heard you ask the…Praetor? For more time." Rhia stated. "If you hadn't heard, they denied our request."

Garrus blinked several times. "I thought you looked familiar! I admit, I occasionally have difficulty telling humans apart, but I should have recognized you. You were part of the mission that called Saren into question."

Rhia smiled in spite of herself. "Yes. I believe the rest of our team headed to C-Sec to report the incident that sent me here were also trying to locate you at the same time." She looked at Ashley for confirmation, and got it in the form of a quick nod.

"The Commander and LT should be –"

Ashley was cut off as the door opened again, and several other officers in C-Sec Uniforms stepped in, guns raised, and quickly lowered them. "An alert went out about a hostage situation, and weapons fire. I take it the situation has been…." The second turian officer looked at the bodies on the floor in what was clearly disgust or annoyance. "Contained?"

"Yes. No civilian casualties. These were all gunmen."

"I see. Statements?"

"Just was finishing now. Please let the Praetor know that I'll have the report to him shortly. Could you notify the morgue while I finish here?"

The other officer nodded, and brought up his holographic omni-tool. "Officer Krythis, authorizing a stand down. Incident contained."

Garrus turned back to Rhia as the other Turian continued a string of orders, presumably to do as he had requested of him. "I will need to finish this, but I can meet you in about an hour if you want to speak about…Sa-" He stopped himself before finishing the Spectre's name, coughing slightly. "About him. Shall I meet you in your Ambassadors Office?"

"That will work perfectly."

A minute more found the two alliance soldiers outside the clink. Rhia pulled up her omni-tool and sent a brief text only message to John, letting them know they were alright, and to pick them up from the clinic before she slumped just outside the door to wait. This had been a long day.

* * *

"I am fine!"

"No, you are not Major." snapped Doctor Chakwas in irritation. "You collapsed twice in the space of an hour. And now I find out that you have acute _polonium poisoning?_ And you have been running around the Normandy and the Citadel for the last _hour_? You Major, are going nowhere."

Rhia gritted her teeth in frustration. "My stomach is a little queasy is all! I feel fine now!"

Doctor Chakwas shook her head. "You are most decidedly not fine. The polonium in your blood stream makes using your biotics an unacceptable risk, unless you want to send yourself into a seizure, as well as interfering with your sense of balance and aim, especially if your blood pressure were to spike, such as in combat. You are not fit for duty, Major."

"Fine." She snapped and turned on her medical tormentor. "But I am NOT staying in Medical." She whipped her arm away from the Doctor "I'll be up at the helm, bothering Joker, since I have nothing else I am allowed to do." The older woman crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing.

_"_As long as you do not attempt to leave the ship. I will have C-Sec bring you right back if you do."

"Yes, _mom_." groused Rhia as she stormed out of Medical. A couple of the Normandy's engineers dodge out of her way as she passed, shooting looks of alarm. She ignored them pointedly and stomped up the stairs to the CIC.

Joker was leaned back in his chair at the helm of the Normandy, his almost ever present cap laid over his eyes. At her stomping approach he commented through the hat without moving. "Afternoon Major."

Rhia flopped in the seat to his left and crossed her arms. "Chakwas is a tyrant."

"Oh, I don't know about that. More like that Aunt who always pinches your cheek. Family, but you know, the one you never want to have to visit."

Rhia made a face at him, though Joker didn't see. He could probably imagine though, she guessed, which was good enough.

"So what are you in for?" Asked Joker, lifting the cap up so he could peer over at her with one eye.

"Polonium Poisoning. With all the craziness at the clinic, Doctor Michel didn't finish running all the tests that would have caught it when she took the bullet out, so now I'm slightly radioactive."

Joker raised an eyebrow. "Slightly Radioactive. Uh huh. Should I be attempting to scoot away? Cause you know, that would be a dick move, to make the cripple have to try and run away from the crazy radioactive senior officer"

"At the moment I'm only a danger to myself. Unless I have a gun. Then who knows."

"Uh huh. So slightly radioactive in your case will do...what?"

Rhia sighed and felt her face flush. "I uh...collapsed. Twice. Well, maybe three times, not sure."

Joker suddenly seemed to be caught between sincere worry and grinning. "Uh...wait, you? Major Shepard, Protector of Elysium, fainted?"

"God, not you too. Who told you?"

"I'm originally from Tiptree. My sister kind of hero worships you. I didn't recognize you when you came on board, but it clicked later. "

Rhia sighed. "Never escaping that. "

"Especially not if you fainted."

"I did not faint. I collapsed. It sounds better."

"Dropped unconscious? Uh, yeah, you fainted. "

Rhia briefly considered throwing something at him, but the only things around would have been fatal for the Normandy's pilot. "Anyway. I collapsed on the way back to the Normandy, and again when I got here and was getting checked out by Chakwas. Apparently scared her half to death. So now, I'm here on some lovely blue pills to counteract the radiation, where I get to sit with my hands tied. "

"Well, I'm glad you're going to be okay."

The communication unit started blinking, and Joker rolled his eyes, and set his seat back up to answer the incoming hail. He eyed the blinking text message. "Huh. Apparnetly the the Turian and Krogan's info combined was enough to get that Garrus guy to authorize a sting on Chora's Den. The Commander, Alenko and Williams are going along for the ride. "

"And if I leave the ship to go and join them..."

"I'll tell Chakwas, and she'll haul you back by your ear." He gave her a look she couldn't quite put a finger on. Concern maybe? " Tell you what Major. You never got the full run down of all the toys we have on here did you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come with me, got something to show you." He slowly stood, carefully levering out of his seat. For a moment Rhia reached out to help, then stopped herself. Something told her that Joker wouldn't take too kindly to being "assisted" unless he really needed it. Together, they paced down the length of the _Normandy_ until Joker stopped at the large holographic display just in front of the Captain's station. A couple of the few remaining crew men on board gave them some confused looks as Joker punched up a communication window and sent a voice only hail to John.

"Commander, its Joker. I've got the Major here, and she's itching for something to do. With your permission, I wanted to demonstrate the Ground Tac-Com display."

_+I thought the Major was on bed rest? +_

Rhia leaned over Joker so the interface could pick her up, brushing up against Joker as she did. "Yeah, Chakwas and I came to an understanding. Not allowed off the Normandy without a babysitter, so I'm here playing with your toys."

John chuckled on the other end. _+Fine. Just don't break anything. Give me a second to get the others linked in. Tactical Channel 2. +_

"Affirmative Commander." Joker punched in a few things on the holographic consol and picked up a small one sided visor and handed it to her. "You'll need that."

She put it on, and waited. Then the holographic display for the Normandy completely shifted into a map layout of the Citadel. Joker fiddled a bit more, and the screen zoomed in close on Zakara Ward, and several small blips. He started to explain as he worked. "This basically makes you tactical control. This lets you get tactical feeds, including audio and visual from anyone on the ground team, as well as a map overlay of their position. The VI will extrapolate for facilities we don't have on record, as well as enemy troop positions, concentrations, on top of tracking everyone's vitals who is keyed into it" He watched another pair of blips joined the first three. "Like so. I assume it's keyed to allow it to distinguish between different species, but I could be wrong.

Rhia looked at the display in amazement. Getting this kind of real time live feed was a field commander dream. "How?"

Joker grinned. "Specialized communications set up, coupled with a whole lot of computers. I don't know the exact specifics, but the tech that they brought in from R&D was ecstatic about being allowed to play with it all."

"Major Shepard to ground team, can you all you all hear me?"

Kaidan's voice broke up a tiny bit as he responded. _+Loud and clear Major. Couldn't sit this one out?+_

"Not a chance in hell. I hate being sidelined."

+_I couldn't agree more+_ chuckled the turian officer. +_Glad to hear you are feeling better Major.+_

"What can I say, I rebound fast. I would be there now, but our Chief Medical Officer decided to lay down the law."

_+Are we all set on your end?+_ Asked John. Rhia switched her visual to Ashley's helmet so she could see him.

"I think so. Five feeds, anyone else coming for the party?"

Garrus answered against, sounding a bit smug. +_Not this time. Part of the reason this got approved at all was the fact that I was bringing my own brute squad.+_

A voice she didn't immediately recognize popped on, and she started. +_Speak for yourself Turian. You didn't bring me, they did.+_

Garrus's response was smooth. +_Just saying what they were told, not what really was going to happen, Wrex. + _

_"+ Long as we are clear+ _Growled the Krogan. She would have sworn the huge alien was smiling, though his myriad of teeth made it look more intimidating than friendly. Probably the way he wanted it.

"Alright, time to cut the banter I think. Commander, lead on, I'll feed you anything this spits out at me."

_+Yes ma'am. Let's move out!+ _

Rhia swapped her view to John's, and leaned forward over the console, leaning on the metal rail, and waited for the show to really begin.

* * *

_**Author Note: **Hey, I stayed on schedule this week! Barely. Next week, or th week after I'm going to fall a bit farther behind. I've been struggling a tad with this next chapter and how I want to do it, and have re-written a couple of variations on it. I'm still not satisfied, but i'm getting more so. Muse hasn't abandoned me, but she's being contrary a bit. So for the next chapter, expect a possible (well probable) delay._

_Also, I cameoed someone in this one. Can you figure out who it is? I think it's an easy spot, but I'm biased. _


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_Location: Milky Way, Serpent Nebula, Widow System – The Citadel _

_Zakara Ward – Chora's Den_

* * *

"You know, I can't say I really expected to be back here again." commented Kaidan.

"Well, this time I expect there will be less dancing girls, and more gunfire." teased Ashley.

"We had gunfire last time too."

+_Expect a lot more this time.+ _echoed the voice of the absent Major. +_Fist has at least two Krogan bodyguards that I saw, and an alert just went out that everyone at Chora's was kicked out about 10 minutes ago. They know you are coming.+_

John nodded, checked his weapons, making sure they were strapped on. "Garrus, any idea on how much resistance we will have?"

The turian shook his head. "Not for certain. We never placed him as having more than twenty individuals that worked for him, and not all of the ones we identified would be worth anything if it came to a fight."

"Eh, won't matter." grunted Wrex. "Like anything he's got could stop me, let alone all of us."

"Maybe, but let's try and do it so we can all come out in one piece. " murmured John. The krogan battle master just grunted in response, and he found himself shaking his head, and hoping that he had made the right decision with letting Wrex come along. He triple checked the side arm and stepped out to the hall that would lead to Chora's Den, and Fist.

Fist, it turned out, had worked for the Shadow Broker, an enigmatic and nearly invisible figure, who seemed to have his fingers in every pie. He knew next to nothing about him, other than two simple facts: if the Shadow Broker didn't have the information he could get it, and that you crossed him at your own peril.

Fist had sold his allegiance to Saren, and neglected to remember that second fact. When the Shadow Broker found out, he had hired Wrex to give him a single chance to surrender. Rhia had apparently been witness to Wrex's attempt at negotiation, which had been dismissed. John prayed that he could keep the Krogan in line long enough to get the information that Garrus had found, at the least, before Wrex carried out the summary execution part of the contract.

Garrus had tracked Saren's contacts through Chora's Den, and that Fist had obtained information linking Saren to Eden Prime, but the trail he'd been following didn't lead to any hard evidence, at least not in the time had been given.

John nodded at Kaidan, as the other man started to hack work his way into the clubs security system and override the doors. "How long?"

"Two minutes or less." Answered Kaidan absently as he worked his way through the security.

John nodded, and looked over at Ashley "So, Chief. I hear you stood off four gunmen earlier, single handed?"

"I…yeah. Just doing what I could." She replied, sounding more than a bit uncomfortable at mild compliment.

Garrus eyed her as he commenting offhand as he checked his weapon on last time. "What you could was better than most, Chief Williams." Ashley looked clearly unsure how to respond and finally just shrugged.

Kaidan clicked the panel back down, and drew his own weapon. "Ready to breach, just give the word."

"Williams, Alenko, stun grenades. Wrex, you are first through the door, then me, going left. Garrus you are next, going right, Williams with you." He pointed at each as he spoke. "Alenko, you are filler and covering the middle if they have placed anyone on the stages above."

+_Expect at least one, according to the analysis here. I'm also starting to get comm interceptions from inside Chora's Den as well. At least seven unique comm signals are transmitting._

"Alright, breach on three."

He flicked the safety off the Predator-pistol and started counting down. As he finished Kaidan hit the control, popped a grenade free and threw it one side of the door, even as Ashley mimicked him, her own grenade sailing through the door on the opposite side. Bullets ricocheted around them as gunfire exploded out of the room, one skipping off of Garrus's shields, then abruptly stopped as the flash grenades went off.

And Wrex thundered forward with a roar that left John stunned for a full second, leaving him to see exactly why the Krogan had a statue in the Presidium. Wrex slammed into the hastily overturned tables that some of Fist's men had tried to use as cover, and crushed them under their own defenses, before leveling his shotgun and finishing off the luckless survivor. Before the shotgun could even cool properly, Wrex had turned and was firing on the pair of Krogan enforcers, sending three more shots in their direction. The shots ripped their shields apart, his last shot tearing across the face of the leading bodyguard, shredding one of its reptilian eyes.

John stormed forward finally, firing as he came. Three precise shots hammered into the man behind the bar, even as the unfortunate thug whipped at his eyes, trying to clear them. The first shot was stopped dead by the kinetic shield, but remaining two punched through it, taking him dead center of his chest and flinging him into the wall of alcohol behind him with a crash.

He slid down behind the bar, catching a glimpse of the action on the other side of the room as Garrus and Ashley exchanged fire with another pair of thugs in a defensive position identical to the one that Wrex and smashed through. He didn't see him, but her heard Kaidan shout, and then a scream of pain as the Alliance Biotic did something painful to another of Fist's hired guns.

John peeked up from the bar, just in time to duck as one of the krogan bodyguards slammed into the bar with enough force to crack the ceramic surface. It didn't move. John looked up again and could see Wrex, breathing a little quickly, but appearing otherwise unharmed. He turned back to aim down on ones engaged with Garrus and Ashley, but found them standing up tentatively from their cover, their opponents dispatched. All in all, the fight had taken seconds.

"Status everyone?"

"Clear." Called Ashley.

"Clear here." Called Kaidan.

+_Should be clear to Fist, though I'm getting some strange electrical readings from his office that are __getting flagged with a warning.+_

"Alright, you heard the lady." John vaulted over the bar. "Wrex, take point."

"Heh...fine by me." The Krogan stepped up, and slammed his hand into the holographic panel to open the door, his shotgun pointed ahead with one hand. The door hiss open and Wrex abruptly turned with a shout, slamming himself into cover on one side of the door. "Down!"

John threw himself to one side at the warning, just as the auto-turrets on the other side of the door opened fire, sending a vicious hail of gunfire hurtling through the open door.

"Major, remind me next time that thing flags a warning, to take it a bit more seriously!" shouted Ashley. A particularly vicious barrage tore a hole through the table she had ducked behind, causing sparks to fly off her barriers. "Fuck! Really seriously next time!"

"Kaidan, can you overload them?"

"Yes, but I need a moment!"

Garrus grunted in pain and surprise as a ricochet clipped him above one eye, causing him to duck down more. "With all due respect, Lieutenant, now would be a very good time!"

"You know, every time someone says that, what they really mean is kiss my ass!" Shouted Ashley, "Alenko, any time now, though would be good!"

"Let's see _you_ do this!" He snarled back before shoving his OMNI-tool hand around the corner, and a discharge of energy pulsed past the rest of the squad and into the next room. There was a thrumming sound, and then several sharp pops, and the turrets stopped firing.

John peeked his head out. The turrets twitched and sparked. "Good work."

"Thank you sir." said Kaidan with a nod, even as she shot a cold glance at the others.

"S-stay back! I'm warning you!" Shouted a voice from the office.

"Fist? Come out, with your hands in the air." Shouted Garrus. A pair of shots rang out, ricocheting off the wall. The turian officer made a sound that sounded a bit like a sigh. "Commander, I believe he has elected the 'hard way' "

"Noted. Williams."

"On it." She said, and stepped up close to Wrex. The krogan glanced down on her, giving her a speculative look through one serpent-like eye, and she held up another of the flash grenades, and flicked the arming switch. Wrex grinned suddenly. "Oh, I think I like you guys."

Ashley flicked the small device, sending rebounding off the wall and into the office. Fist shrieked, even before the grenade went off, and his tone stretched into a painful falsetto. John tried to contain his exasperation as he led the way into the office.

Fist's office was a perfect match for his club; small, dingy, and badly lit. The turrets that had menaced them had been concealed by panels in the wall, and still clicked and shuddered, sending off sparks that gave more light to the room than the actual fixtures. The office contained a small cheap looking desk, a small dark couch, and a few a holo displays that had apparently been linked to the power source for the turrets, as they too sparked in what was probably their death throws.

Fist was on the floor to one side of his desk, a pale and extremely thin looking man, narrow faced with a long hooked nose. He lay there, his hands on his ears, his eyes squeezed shut, a small pistol on the ground a few feet from him.

John kicked the pistol farther out of the man's reach and knelt next to him as Fist rubbed at his eyes and head, trying to regain some of his senses. He heard the others crowd into the office behind him.

"Fist. You have information that we need. And if you hadn't decided to have your men start shooting at us immediately, we could have had that conversation and left you alone."

Fist snorted a bitter laugh. "So you brought the Krogan who said he's going to kill me?"

"Well, you did decide to fort up and refuse any attempts to contact you any other way. We did try."

"Yeah, right. Listen, if you are going to kill me, get it over with and don't talk me to death. If you aren't, tell me what you want. "

"You work for Saren."

"What of it?"

"You have information linking him to Eden Prime."

"No. But I know someone who does. Or did, depending on if she's dead already or not."

John tensed, but kept his voice calm, cold even. "Who and where are they now."

"Some quarian suit-rat. She had something, wanted to sell it to the Shadow Broker for protection. She didn't do much research before she came offering it, since anyone in the business knows I don't work for the broker anymore."

John jabbed the muzzle of his pistol up under the man's chin. "You sold her out to more of Saren's people." Fist's nod was barely perceivable, and he made a swallowing sound. John felt his eyes narrow, his voice calm and implacable.

"Where is the quarian?"

* * *

Rhia could hear fist stammer over the words, her fingers quickly stabbing over the console. "I-I don't know. s-she was s-supposed to meet them u-under the lower market. Where the back access tunnels are, just the other side of that used starship store. They never use the back tunnels there, and no one would see them." She shifted the view and working to narrow down the possible locations on a second holo-screen

+_Rhi, what do- _+

"I'm already on it, stand by." She said distractedly, sifting out the results the computer had overlaid of the citadel shops, the schematics overlaying with the shop details. She could hear John questioning the slimy little man more, but she paid no attention as the computer spat out one possible destination. "John, if he set the meeting on this Ward, there is only one store it could be. Sending the coordinate now."

She keyed in the command to update his HUD, and felt a chill settle over her, as John's voice cut across.

+_Shit. That is practically all the way back to the Normandy, and it will be on foot almost the entire way.+_

He was right. The route they would have to take from Chora's Den was up a dozen floors, and across on a section of the citadel that was almost completely sealed. It would take them nearly twenty minutes to get there, at least. She stabbed her hand down on the mute button, even as she heard other voices pipe up over the channel. "Joker!"

The lieutenant had taken up residence in his pilot seat again, and he craned his head around till he could see her out of the corner of his eye. She waved the headset at him. "Take over here, I need you to guide me!"

"Weren't you just complaining that Chakwas had ordered you to not leave the ship? Cause that was kind of the whole point of me setting you up on that thing."

Rhia closed the distance to him, and slapped the small visor into his hand.

"They have at best a 15 minute hike. I can be there in five. If we lose this quarian, or the intel she's got, we lose Saren." She slapped the airlock door open, and pressed the small ear-bud for her comm. "Get me there, now."

Joker looked at her for a long moment, indecision on his face before he finally shook his head, muttering. "Chakwas is gona kill me..." Despite his complaints though, Rhia saw him put on the visor, and start to pull himself out of the pilot chair.

"I would probably be more worried about John." She grinned at his startled expression and slapped the airlock closed with a hiss. It seemed like it took the airlock an eternity for the cycle to finish and let her out onto the Docking Bay, giving her more than enough time to let her mind race through all the of the people who were going chew her out later for this stunt. _John. Chakwas. Anderson. Probably Udina too. Guess I better get here and make it worth it. _

* * *

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya paced back and forth across the narrow service hallway as she waited, her nerves pressed to the limit. For the last two days she had been running from….just about everything. Hopefully this stupid deal with the Shadow Broker would put an end to it.

She shifted painfully, and adjusted the sling on her arm. The damage to her suit had been repaired, but the gunshot had cracked the bone, on top of the infection. Dr. Michel had given her antibiotics, and the infection was under control, but it had given her a headache unlike any she had remembered, and the aching in her shoulder and arm were agonizing, the pain medication only taking a bit of the edge off.

A skittering sound made her jump, her pistol pointing shakily in her off hand at where came from. A moment later, one of the Citadel Keepers, the strange green insect-like aliens that wandered and repaired the space station. The creature skittered forward and began to work on the console nearby. Tali held the pistol pointed for a moment longer as she heard her breath come in tense little rasps. But the keepers ignore everyone, focused singularly on their task of maintaining and repairing the citadel. She lowered the pistol as she felt her breathing slow to a more normal pace. Harmless but still...unnerving, she decided. She turned away, returning to pacing back and forth, and let her mind wander for a moment.

A bare couple of days ago, she had stopped with a small crew that she had joined. They had salvaged a pair of ships, a Geth ship that was some kind of frigate or troop transport, and the remains of a lightly armed turian vessel. The majority of the salvage crew had focused on the turian vessel, while she and one particularly brave turian had went over to the Geth ship to see if there was anything she could find.

And she had found more than she bargained for. A pair of geth data cores that by some miracle had remained intact, and had not been wiped when the synthetics had been rendered inoperative. They were a treasure trove of information, if she could decode it. She had spent the entire trip to the Citadel working on decoding the information contained in them, garbled though some of it was. And what she found was absolutely terrifying to her.

The Geth were on the move. The first data core had been some kind of piloting or navigation variant, and as she poured over the data, it showed the transponder signals of twenty geth warships of various sizes departing the Perseus Veil and spreading through the Traverse and into other portions of the galaxy. Aside from using the Relay's, the vessels had swung wide of anywhere they could be easily spotted it seemed. This particular ship seemed to been attempting to reach a asteroid field when it had encountered the Turian ship, and the ensuing conflict had resulted into the death of both vessels, as the Turian's rammed the more powerful geth warship in desperation, or so the telemetry seemed to indicate. That final embrace has resulted in a series of overloads and explosions that killed everyone on board both vessels. Or at least as much as the geth could be killed.

The second data core was even worse off, containing only one thing: A simple audio recording, between a Turian and an unknown woman, a though she couldn't be sure on the identity of either. The Turian was easy enough to distinguish, but the other was not so distinct, at least to her. Their conversation was about some Beacon, and the return of the Reapers, whatever that meant. But when the Turian had commented about destroying Eden Prime, Tali knew she had something huge. She had shown it to the turian who had joined her on the Geth ship, named Helithus, who had told her to keep the information to herself, that he would help her find the right person give it to.

And then, barely two hours after arriving on the Citadel on her way to meet Helithus, someone had tried to kill her. The shooter had hit her in the arm, and she had ran. Her suit had sealed around the injury, limiting the contamination but she had started to run a fever in minutes. If it wasn't for stumbling into Dr. Michel's clinic, she might not have survived at all.

Tali shivered and looked around, trying to shake off _that_ morbid line of thought. Where _was_ this contact? The Shadow Broker was supposed to be here by now.

A door hissed open and she started, grabbing at her small pistol again. A moment later, a turian she recognized, but didn't know his name, stepped into view, flanked by a pair of Salarian's. She kept her pistol on them, trying to keep her hand from trembling from the stress, pain, medication, or some combination of all three. The turian raised his hands as she kept walking toward her, motioning for the guards he had brought to hang back. He gave her the turian equivalent of a smile, though to her it seemed more of a leer. She shivered. Was it the smile, or her fever?

"Just me girl...take it easy. Do you have it?"

She looked past him to the guards, and back, and lowered the gun sliding it back into her holster. "Where is the Shadow Broker, and Fist?"

"They will be here. Where is the data?"

Tali hesitated. Facial expressions was something that were hard for her to read. Her people were all but concealed behind their suits masks, and as a result she felt she had very little experience in interpreting them. But...something about his almost feverish expression set her on edge. The fact he had stepped close enough to touch her, and felt comfortable running one hand down her arm in a manner that was entirely too friendly? Something was very wrong.

"No." She snapped, and batted his hand away. "The deal is off."

The turian eyes blazed in anger and he took a step away from her. "Take her, find the data. "

Tali was already in motion before he finished speaking, and flicked her wrist in the direction of the two salarian guards, as she dove for cover. Her arm screamed in pain as she landed, and she bit back a cry.

The small grenade went off with a vicious little snap, and bits of metal or debris skipped off the crate she was hiding behind. She scrambled back to her feet, to make a run for it, and had to drop again as the turian opened fire, his pistol punching holes in the flimsy metal of the crate. For a moment she caught of a glimpse of him holding his face, his blue blood pouring out of a handful of shallow wounds. Fear sent her heart racing as she tried to fumble for the pistol again.

And then a shout of defiance drew her gaze _up _the stairs as short redhead human woman hurled herself in a leap from the top of the stairs, nearly 4 meters up. As the human sailed forward, her momentum carrying her just beyond the crate Tali sheltered behind, energy seemed to hum through the air, building to a crescendo. And then she landed, and the shockwave that followed the woman's impact slammed the crate into her with staggering force.

Her arm exploded into pain again, and she found herself gasping as she tried to pull herself up. Someone lifted her, or tried to.

"Come on!" gritted the woman as she pulled Tali's good arm over one shoulder and started to haul her back up the stairs. "Run, come on, they'll be up in a moment!"

Everything snapped back into focus in a brilliant moment of shock and pain, and Tali staggered forward into the start of a run as the two of them pounded up the stairs. Just as they reached the top, the human pushed her forward and whirled back, dropping to one knee at the top of the stairs her arms crossed in a protective gesture. The rapport of gunfire made Tali flinch, but as she looked back, the human woman was holding a barrier. A _biotic_ barrier, against the three would-be assassins. The gunmen hesitated, unsure of how to proceed, and when did the red-haired human flung her arms out, sending gathered defensive energy rushing out in a wave that took the three attackers from their feet yet again. She turned, wild eyed and sprinted straight past Tali, her strange five fingered hand snatching Tali's own and hauling her forward frantically into a run.

"John, Joker, anyone, we could really use some help! Have the package, hostiles in pursuit! I delayed them bu-" A bullet ricocheted off the wall bare inches from them, and Tali saw her new ally's face pale. "Danger close. Really, really close."

The pair darted into the next corridor, and the human slapped her hand on the controls, shutting the door behind them, she grabbed at Tali's hand, but Tali snatched it away, twisting her wrist to activate her OMNI-tool instead, shoving it at the door. "Wait, just a second."

"They are right behind us!" The human snapped back. "We have to go!"

"...come on your stupid bosh'tet...there!" Tali exclaimed. The doors locked sealed into place as her hack took hold on the simple machines controls. The woman's eyes widened in surprise.

"...damn. I think I owe you an apology. "

"Later, that won't take much to override, if they have half an idea what they are doing."

"Right..." She touched her ear. "Joker, I need an exit, preferably one that puts a bunch of people with guns between us and the pursuit." She paused, looking around as she clearly received directions, and nodded before turning back to Tali. "I know you really don't have a reason to trust me, but I'm on your side, and I can get us to safety, but I need you to trust me."

Tali looked her up and down for a second, but the choice was an easy one. "I'm right behind you."

* * *

_**Author Note: **If I ever decide to re-write this, this is going to one of the top chapters for that. I think the current count of re-writing for this chapter is sitting at 5. _

_Hope you all like it though. I apologize, this is NOT my favorite chapter, but now it's got more Tali, which is always fun! Right? _

_As a warning, I will probably be late next week: I'm not sure how long, and I will post as soon as i can, but it will likely not be on friday. We will see though!_


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Location: Milky Way, Serpent Nebula, Widow System – The Citadel _

_Zakara Ward – Promenade_

John pressed close behind Garrus as the C-Sec Officer led the way, shoving his way through the crowded Promenade, shouting for people to make a hole. People pressed up against store fronts as the mismatched crew, still with weapons drawn came through, leaving startled conversations in their wake. John could have probably kept a faster pace, but with Garrus leading the way, the crowds hopefully wouldn't panic at the sight of three armed humans and a gun-toting krogan. Garrus at least gave them the semblance of legitimacy.

+_Commander, those goons just breached the door the Major and her new friend sealed and are still in pursuit. I don't see any others but someone has to be directing them, cause they are still on their trail.+ _Joker paused, the worry evident in his voice. +_And the Major isn't doing well. Neither is the quarian. You better hurry.+_

"We are going as fast as we can, Joker. How much farther?"

_+You will be able to see them in about a minute, they are going to pass right under you. But unless you have wings, the closest point your paths will cross is the food court, about 120 meters after that. +_

"How far is the drop from our level to theirs?"

_+Twelve and half meters. I wouldn't advise it, especially with the crowd.+_

He snarled and kept running as the bridge across the promenade came into view, and Garrus slowed panting. "Lieutenant, got a little turned around, which way are they coming from?"

+_Uh, right side from the direction you were coming. And those goons are right on top of them+_

John grabbed the railing on the side Joker indicated as Ashley and Kaidan slid to a halt next to him. Kaidan leaned heavily on the rail. "Do you see them?"

He shook his head in frustration, scanning the crowd as Wrex thundered up, bringing up the rear. Garrus suddenly pointed. "There."

The teams' eyes all tracked the line his finger indicated to the beleaguered pair hustling through the crowd. Rhia was pale, half leaning on the quarian girl who, with her other arm in a sling, didn't look to be in much better condition.

Ashley snapped as she pointed too "Turian, 15 meters behind them. White face paint, blue and red clothing. Gun."

"I see him..." He looked down, frantically for some kind of way to reach them, then glanced at Kaidan. "Biotics at this range?"

The other man shook his head. "Too far. Even if I could hit him, I'd barely be able to slow him down. "

"Garrus, any C-Sec officers that could get there before us."

The turian shook his head in frustration as well. "Not fast enough."

He stared in frustration, trying to think of some way to help them. He was a good shot, but he couldn't risk firing into the crowd, not with this many people

Ashley was peering straight down and cocked her to one side as she stared. John leaned down to see what she was looking at. Directly below them, hanging from the walkway were huge banners, each depicting one of the sigils and colors of a council race. The banner stretched down a good five meters. Ashley shot a look at him and smiled a tiny bit..

He felt his eyebrows go up. "Chief, that's a really long fall, even if the banner holds."

She pointed beyond it. "Shop's overhang will cut some of that. Not much, but...should be enough." She hesitated. "I think."

John looked again, gauging the distance. "...I'll try. You all should-"

Ashley rolled her eyes, and cut him off by slapping her pistol back into the holster and vaulting over the rail, turning as she dropped. Someone below them screamed as Ashley fell, and the entire team from Chora's Den leaned way over as she plummeted.

The banner held, and she slid down it, stopping her descent at the last possible moment. She hung there for a second, her fall arrested, before swinging slightly and then letting go to fall to the shop room directly below her. She hit hard and rolled, bleeding off speed before rolling off to the floor. She staggered as she landed, slamming onto her side. John felt his breath catch in his throat. "Williams, you okay?"

Ashley pulled herself to her feet, touching her ear as she answered. +_Peachy sir. Also maybe ow.+ _The marine slapped one hand to her side arm but didn't draw it, and started jogging in the direction of Rhia and the quarian.

Rhia had spotted Ashley's descent and staggered forward in a lurch, her charge in tow, to meet the other woman. _+Chief, that was insane+_ Rhia's labored breathing came through the comm unit, making him wince in sympathy as he could only watch.

_+Yes ma'am. Just about as insane as bolting off with radiation poisoning.+ _Ashley responded dryly.

Even from here, John caught the amused look that Rhia gave the marine, and the trio started moving again. But their pursuit was right on top of them. The turian snarled something and pointed his weapon straight into the air, firing three times. And his weapon was not silenced. The reaction to the guns rapport was instantaneous, as people dove down and out of his way, covering their heads and scattering in all directions away from him, and to Normandy's crew horror, cleared a perfectly good line of sight to Ashley, Rhia and their quarian informant.

Time seemed to slow, as John took aim. He saw Ashley spin, almost in a dancers move to interpose herself between the gunman and the other two, clawing for her side arm as she did. He saw Garrus out of the corner of one eye cock his head to one side, sighting down his own weapon, and squeeze the trigger the same time John did.

The pair of gunshots from the walkway above slammed into Fist's hired goon like hammer blows, driving him from his feet and nearly straight down into the floor. He lay there, not moving.

John felt himself let out a long slow breath. Garrus gave him a respectful nod, and holstered his weapon, reaching for his OMNI-tool. "I'll need to call this in….I'll let you get down and help your people."

John holstered his own side arm, and offered his hand to Garrus. "Thank you, for everything. I'll keep you updated on what we find out."

Garrus took the offered as he nodded. "Appreciated. It's been a pleasure working with you Commander. I hope I can in the future."

John nodded his agreement, and motioned to Kaidan and Wrex. It was time to go find out what this madness had actually net them.

* * *

"Play it again please, Lieutenant."

Ashley leaned forward, straining her own ears, as the holographic image of Captain Anderson cocked his head to one side to hear the audio only file.

The computer made a garbled noise for a second, before resolving into the voice of a woman "We now have two hundred mobile platforms fitted for ground combat, as well as an additional twelve ships of cruiser-class that have joined us. We should be ready to begin our plans in a few more days."

A second voice responded, and Ashley listened as the voice of Saren Arterius, Council Spectre, condemned himself in the next few minutes. "Excellent. The forward bases for the searches?"

"Should be complete within two days of beginning operations. About a week from now, give or take. The Geth are….extremely efficient."

The turian's chuckle was completely mirthless. "Good. I just received word from a contact on the Citadel. The Beacon on Eden Prime has been located and uncovered. The _humans_ are asking for the Council's aid in interpreting it. They have dispatched soldiers to protect it, but are in no hurry to attempt to move it as yet. We will be able to simply overwhelm them. The Geth have already prepared a series of fusion explosives that will wipe out the colony and hide any evidence that might be left, after we have the beacon of course."

"And with it, we will be one step closer to the Conduit, and the Arrival."

"Indeed." There was a moment of hesitation. "Take half of your commandoes, and a company of geth. Go to the first staging area, and wait for the new ships to arrive."

"As you will."

Kaidan flicked at his OMNI-tool and he lowered it. "I looked over the rest of the information that Miss Zorah obtained. It contains navigational information for a several geth vessels, two of which show records of the landing on Eden Prime, as well as a third vessel that is only classified in the navigational records as _Sovereign_. _Sovereign _is apparently the vessel that was observed in the distress call from Eden Prime. Between the distress call and the navigational and sensor information recovered, it's larger than any dreadnaught we have by at least double. It's a full third larger than the _Destiny Ascension_. "

"God...the Geth built that?" murmured Anderson.

"So it would seem, sir." John said as he leaned forward, looking to the second figure, Councilor Udina. Ashley kept her face schooled in a mask of indifference, but the man made her uncomfortable. She glanced away as the Commander continued. "Do we have enough to take to the Council now?"

Udina's face broke into a wolfish smile. "I would say so Commander. While engaging in a gunfight on the Zakara Ward Promenade, as well as shooting up Chora's Den, won't have engendered us any favors, the evidence is going to be much harder to disprove, assuming it can be verified as genuine."

Kaidan spoke again. "I've already gone over it myself with the standard algorithms. I am not an expert, but it appears be clean of any have been tampering. It's only been copied once, and Tali'Zorah's OMNI-tool data shows it has not been altered since she removed it from the Geth vessel."

Udina ran a finger along his jaw as he spoke. "They will want to verify the data of course, but yes, I will send copies of what you found, as well as your findings, Lieutenant." His smile grew wider. "Excellent work Commander Shepard."

John shook his head. "Wasn't just me, sir. If the Major hadn't intervened when she did Miss Zorah wouldn't have likely survived the ambush. Chief William's jump to the promenade floor forced the gunman to get desperate enough to risk exposure, and if it wasn't for the information by both Urdnot Wrex and Officer Vakarian, we wouldn't have been able to even find Miss Zorah before it was too late. And of course, without Miss Zorah's data, and the skill involved in obtaining it, we wouldn't have anything at all"

Udina's smiled waned a bit as the commander's accolades continued to include the non-humans. Ashley had no real love for aliens either, especially the turians, but she couldn't deny the Commander's points at all. Garrus has been polite and professional if a bit eager. And Tali reminded her of her youngest sister, Sarah, in the brief interaction they had.

"Ah...yes. I am sure their contributions will receive appropriate recognition. " Udina paused, as if he was considering something. " I understand that the some injuries were sustained by your team?"

"Major Shepard is currently in sickbay, recovering. Her injuries were not extremely serious, but she was struck by an irradiated round and it wasn't treated properly until after she had already began suffering from the symptoms. Dr. Chakwas expects her to make a complete recovery in a few days." Ashley braced herself for an outburst from Udina as the Commander continued, his face a blank mask of neutrality. "Miss Zorah is also still in our care, though her injuries were already treated. We thought the Council might have questions for her, and thought the safest place we could find would be aboard the Normandy."

"You let a non-human aboard our newest and most advanced starship." Growled Udina, his eyes narrowing as he spoke.

"In point of fact, sir, I brought an intelligence asset aboard the Normandy as the most private and secured location available, that will not automatically bow to a Council Spectre's authority." Snapped John irritably. "Anywhere we would have taken her on the Citadel could have been compromised by Saren, until his status is disavowed by the Council."

Ashley fought a smile. THAT shut Udina up. Anderson's holographic-self looked over at the Councilor before he spoke. "Commander, we will set things up with the Council and notify you when we they are ready for us."

"Yes sir."

Udina gave them both a glare before he nodded, a sharp brittle motion, and severed the connection.

Kaidan look at them both. "Well that went well."

"I expected more shouting from Udina there, actually, considering the commotion. And body count." She stood as she spoke, her leg twitching painfully. The fall hadn't been severely damaging, but her leg and knee were sore, and sitting seemed to aggravate it.

John shrugged, and winced, rolling one shoulder as he joined the conversation. "I suspect that is probably Garrus's doing. Dead bodies were all caused under the shelter of upholding Citadel Security, aside from the ones right outside Chora's Den, and we reported that immediately."

Kaidan nodded. "Makes sense. Just odd having them...agree with us." He shrugged and punched the holographic controls, the door to the communications and conference room sliding open.

"Chief, a moment please."

Ashley stopped mid step, and looked at Kaidan. He had a sympathetic look in his eye, but he only nodded to her, and closed the door as he left. Ashley turned back to face her commanding officer.

"I normally am fine with….initiative in the people serving under me, Chief, but I also need to know that if I give you an order you will follow it. If you hadn't jumped down, things would have been a lot worse, but you also disobeyed my orders." He gave her a level look. "So. Is this going to be a habit, or can I trust you to follow when I need you to?"

Ashley stiffened, feeling her face burn slightly. "You can, sir."

John just looked at her for a long moment, letting the silence weigh down on the conversation till she almost couldn't bear it, before he finally nodded. "Alright, you are dismissed. Anderson requisitioned some additional gear for your use. If you want to check it out, it should be down in the hanger."

"Yes sir, will do." She said, and made her escape with what dignity she had left.

* * *

John sighed. He liked Williams. She was fast, both on her feet and with her mind, but he had to say something. It was clear from her reaction though that he had hit a nerve much more sensitive than intended though.

He shook his head. Nothing for it now, he would have to see what he could find out later though. He stepped out of the Communications Room, and turned to head down the stairs to check on the two patients in the Medical Bay.

He entered on an amusing tableau. Rhia was sitting up in bed, glaring murder at Dr. Chakwas, and holding one of the trays that had previously held surgical implements of various kinds, and was now brandishing it at the matronly doctor. Doctor Chakwas for her part, was standing just out of arms reach, a syringe in one hand, her other hand extended toward Rhia in a warding gesture.

Tali'Zorah in the meantime was propped up in her own bed two over from the action, her head turning to look back and forth at the humans in an almost comical manner that conveyed both confusion and concern. Her arm was till done up in a sling, but it looked like it was resting a more comfortable position now, and her body language, despite the situation enfolding in front of her, was much more relaxed.

"Major, I would appreciate it if you didn't brain Chakwas. Who else is going to be willing to administer Joker's medication without the urge to replace it with something toxic?"

Rhia rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not going to let her drug me! I don't care _what_ Anderson's orders were." The red-haired woman turned back to Chakwas and glared. "And she won't let me have my OMNI-tool back."

He raised an eyebrow at Chakwas who included him in her own glare "The Major is being extremely nonchalant about the seriousness of her injuries, so I took steps. "

Rhia muttered something under breath, and the only word he caught was "airlock". John signed.

"Rhia, will you STAY here and not go running off again, if we give you back the OMNI-tool?" She glowered at him, but finally nodded. He turned to Chakwas. "Give it. I've seen her bored. If we don't give her something to do with her time, we'll regret it." Blue eyes seared into him and John decided that the better course of action was to escape, as quickly as possible. He turned his attention to the quarian, Tali.

"Is there anything you need?"

The violet masked alien girl tilted her head again before shaking her head in a negative answer. Her voice seemed to fluctuate a bit, coming through the suits "Thank you, but no. My injuries have been taken care of. Even my suite has already been patched. I just need a little time still, but thank you."

"You're welcome. Let any of us know if you need anything, alright?" Tali nodded at him, he turned back to the other two, who had both disarmed themselves of their improvised weapons.

He shook his head. "I'm going to go and find something to do to kill some time for the Council to do whatever they are going to. Just…play nice"

Rhia hit him in the face with her pillow with a scowl. He grinned and tossed it back as he strode out of Medical and back to the CIC. He had work to do.

* * *

_**Author Note: **As I said, probably late. And little shorter than I planned, but the muse slacking and I didn't have the heart to shout at her. _

_Hope you enjoy it. Had a bit of writers block on some parts of this, and on others I had to back up and fix things like, you know measurement conversions. Cause falling 50 feet without serious injury is apparently hard to do. Who knew? _


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_Location: Milky Way, Artemis Tau , Knosses System – Moon Above Planet Armeni_

**6 Days Later**

John felt more than heard the explosion. That wasn't all that surprising. Standard Alliance helmets were designed to protect the more sensative senses, hearing and sight, so an explosion loud enough to be felt would likely trigger the audio dampers in the armor .But normally explosions came with landing on the ground, and he hadn't. Where was he?

* * *

"_No. It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibility that comes with joining the spectres," protested Councilor Sparatus, shaking his head._

"_Councilor, we faced down against Saren's forces on Eden Prime. We survived to bring word back to the Council. We also found enough evidence to you have agreed to disbar him from the Spectres. What more proof do you want?" Rhia snapped, the holographic image flickering with the sudden move_

_The Turian Councilor flinched back, his talons clicking on the console in front of him as he started to respond. "We have been more than generous with-"_

"_No. Just no." Rhia shook her head and pointed at him. "With all. Due. Respect, Councilor. You have been condescending. You have been irritating. __We_ _did what you couldn't. Give us the authority, and we can take him take him down too."_

* * *

_+Commander! Pull your chute!+_

The wind hurtling past him and even in the confines of the sealed helmet, the wind nearly ripped the words into unintelligible gibberish as he fell, the ground spinning as he did. He blinked his mind a tangle of confused thoughts and memories that spun nearly as fast as the ground did.

* * *

C_ommander Johnathan Michael Shepard, and Major Rhiannon Llewelyn-Shepard, for services above and beyond the scope of your duties as a member of the System's Alliance, it is the Decision of this Council that you both be granted the rights and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the Citadel," Intoned the Asari Councilor, Tevos. _

"_Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fires of service of fire and battle; those whose actions lift them above the rank and file," continued the Salarian Councilor._

"_Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will," said Tevos, taking up the ceremony before she looked at the last member of the Council._

"_Spectres bear a great burden; Both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold," Sparatus said in a clear strong voice, even as he looked down at John and Rhia…_

* * *

John shook his head, trying to get his bearings, attempting to get some point of reference. What was he doing? For a second he could see lights flash below him flickering, and he made out a dull 'whump' that came along with the flash, thunder to the lightning.

* * *

"_I can't just take your ship, Captain!" He protested._

_Anderson shook his head. "No. This is your mission Commander, not mine. The Major was right when she said that 'We' had stopped Saren. The thing is, I wasn't in that. You need a fast, powerful ship to hunt him down. You need a good crew. The Normandy is both."_

"_This doesn't feel right sir. You should be going with us. It's your ship."_

_Anderson just shook his head, "Not anymore. A Spectre answers to no one but the Council. It's time for me to step down, and let you and the Major carry this torch."_

* * *

Something slammed into him and sent him spinning even more, causing him to lose all reference points for sky and earth. Something clawed against him, sharp impacts on his armor as metal scraped on metal, then something caught, and he felt the straps snap tight. John shouted as the parachute deployed, arresting the freefall and finally giving him a chance to look down and around. He glanced down just in time to see a second chute open.

+_John, god damn it, are you alright?+_

"I'm fine….I'm fine. What the hell hit me?" He shook his head, things starting to clear.

+_Concussion from the AA weapons. God, we thought you were dead when you didn't respond.+ _Rhia said, the relief coloring her voice.

"No…No I think I'm okay." He looked down at the surface of the moon. "We're almost down. Stand-bye."

The mission should have been simple. Drop in, get the intel and out. The Geth base that they had been pointed at from Tali's intel hadn't indicated that the Geth had begun fortifying the location though. Including, apparently, a Surface-to-Air Cannon that could damage or destory the Normandy.

His boots hit the ground and any chance of reminiscence was cut off as the Geth infantry began to fire at them despite the range. John lurched as he slapped his hand at the release for the parachute, and yanked his rifle from his back. Kaidan, already in motion ahead of him, slid to a stop behind a boulder as he worked to assemble the missile launcher. John dropped into cover next to him.

"How many LC?"

John peaked over the rock and ducked back as several shots chewed holes in the stone. "At least ten, maybe more. How long do you need."

"Another minute, maybe more." Kaidan said, clicking another piece of the launcher into place. "Going to need you to buy some time."

John leaned out, of one side, and opened fire, spraying the oncoming geth troopers

+_John, left flank is about to be turned. Three troopers circling.+_

His HUD blinked, highlighting the three Geth, circling just behind a ridge on that side. Any second they would come over that rise. He palmed a grenade, judged the distance and in a single motion, armed and threw the explosive. He didn't wait to see the effect of his handwork, but turned and leaned out again, firing little erratic bursts that forced the Geth to either remain in cover or charge all at once.

+_Nice throw. Hostiles are down.+_

"I'm ready when you are L.C!" shouted Kaidan over the gunfire, as another piece of the rock cover tore away in a spray of gravel.

John popped the sink on his rifle, and rose, a raking the entrenched Geth positions. Kaidan lurched to his feet and fire, sending the rocket hurtling toward AA emplacement before throwing himself back down. John peaked over to see their handiwork.

The missile had struck the cannon's barrel, slagging a section nearly two meters across into useless scrap. "Normandy, cannon is disabled. Drop the Ma-"

The AA cannon fired, and the shell lodging in the barrel where the missile had damaged it, detonating in an explosion that threw both John and Kaidan from their feet.

+_Commander, are you alright? The whole area just went up like a Christmas Tree.+_

John blinked, his head still ringing. "We are still here Joker. Status on the Mako?"

+_Dropping now. Heads up Commander.+_

A barely audible rumble echoed overhead, and he looked up as the _Normandy_ hurtled past. Something detached from the ship and started falling in an arch toward their position as John prayed that Ashley wouldn't land on them, having not driven a Mako in a drop like this since Basic. With Rhia off active duty until Chakwas cleared her, and himself and Kaidan dropping to the surface, that left Ashley as the only qualified to marine to bring the Mako down.

Kaidan muttered something about coming in awful close, but his words vanished in a roar as the Geth Troopers regained their footing, their shot hammering into their cover. John leaned out swearing under his breath and took a shot that drove through the troopers optical. Next to him, he heard Kaidan start to fire, ducking down behind the cover of the remains of the boulder as the Geth continued to advance.

The Mako landed on top of the synthetic troopers, every other sound drowned out by the roar of thrusters, sparking barriers, crunching rock and the discordant wails of the Geth. Gravel pelted John and Kaidan's cover, and Ashley, the only other soldier with the training to control the unwieldy vehicle, brought it to a screaming halt. The Mako's cannon reducing a whole swath terrain to powder, and the Geth along with it. The tank stopped moving, and a moment later the hatch popped, revealing Garrus, the C-Sec Operative.

"You gentlemen need a ride?"

"So nice of your to offer." Kaidan said, as he stood and took the offered hand up, ducking up inside. John followed suit, musing at his choice of a ground team.

Udina nearly had a seizure when John had request that not only Tali accompany them as the ship departed to hunt Saren down, but Wrex and Garrus as well. When Rhia had backed him up, Udina didn't have a lot of choices in the matter due to their newly minted Spectre status, but god the man had tried.

Anderson hadn't said a word during the entire exchange, but his face had been crooked in an amused smile for the entire conversation. John settled himself into one of the seats and looked back. Wrex stared at him, his glare that stated all too well his thoughts of this mission so far. And with a certain amount of good reason…the Krogan mercenary was wedged in an uncomfortable sitting position in what amounted to the Mako's trunk and cargo space.

Wrex growled. "I am not doing this every time we go to a planet. "

John looked away, focusing on the controls in front him before his face could betray his amusement. "If we have to get rid of cannons on every planet we visit, I think we will have bigger problems."

A vibration of movement from the seat next to Ashley draw his and Kaidan's attention. Kaidan frowned and looked him before leaning up and gently touching Tali's shoulder. The quarian girl flinched away for a moment before relaxing.

"Sorry…I….I am fine. I just need a moment."

Kaidan's frown deepened and he gave her shoulder a squeeze before said nothing as he took his own seat, occupying the space at the Mako's turret that Garrus had been operating as Ashley began to wheel the tank around toward what remained of the main base. She let out a whistle as she took in the level of destruction, and John felt himself wince.

"I hope the computer cores are intact…"

John nodded his agreement. "I didn't expect them to fire again. I thought the Geth had some kind hive awareness."

"Sort of…the more of them that are networked, the more intelligent they are." Said Tali, her voice still shaking slightly. "The number of Geth here might not have been sufficient to accurately calculate the odds of the cannon being disabled by your attack, or they had prioritized the chance of destroying the _Normandy_ as greater than the chance of a malfunction." Tali took a deep breath, and finally opened her eyes.

She looked back over the seat at John, glowing white orbs inside her helmet. "That's part of the problem. They don't think like us, and it makes it hard to predict them. They function on cold logic, all math and numbers, but sometimes that logic just doesn't match up."

John nodded. "Just because we don't expect them to do it, doesn't mean they won't…" He looked out the viewport. "Secondary explosions from the firing took out what amounted to their armory I think….Rhia do have a better view of this?"

+_Standby. + _ A moment passed before she came back on the comm. +_Core looks like is still okay. I'm showing no resistance. All the mobile geth are down, but keep an eye out for. You __should be set for the core. Sending the coordinates now.+_

John watched the data come up. "Got it. We can be there in a few minutes."

Ashley drove the Mako through the wreckage that used to be the Geth Outpost. The cannon's destruction had flattened almost everything but the center-most structure, a solidly built square construction too dense to go down quietly. The marine guided the tank around to the front of the building and they piled out of the passenger compartment, Wrex leading.

John looked up. The sky seemed to be swallowed by the view of the planet above them, green and dark looking from where he stood. This kind of view always unnerved him for some reason.

_Maybe it is just the perspective of being on solid ground, and seeing something so much larger_.

He turned back as Wrex and Kaidan pried the door open and Garrus and Ashley lead the way in. Calling the geth outpost spartan would win understatement of the year: The only thing of note, a series of protrusions that came up to his waist that hummed. Tali though, apparently knew exactly what to look for.

"There. I need to access the control console on that panel in the back." Tali pointed as she explained. "It wont take me long to get an uplink running, but the Geth will detect the intrusion as soon as I do, and begin to delete the data. What exactly should I set the uplink to grab first?"

"Anything referencing Matriarch Benezia T'soni, Saren, Nazara or the Arrival. After that, navigational data, ship numbers, any other outposts or bases the geth have." John replied. "Any other security we need to worry about?"

Tali shook her head as she walked across the room. "If the cannon had not detonated, there would have been geth fighting us all the way to here. If we made it this far with no shooting, I doubt there will be any." She started connecting the panel in front of her to a small kit she had brought, keying in the settings John had specificified.

"So, I was stuffed in that thing like preserved pyjack for nothing?" Groused Wrex.

Tali looked over her shoulder and shrugged. "Could have been very different."

Wrex continued to mutter under his breath a moment more as Tali started the download. Immediately the machines nearest job his and spun to a stop. The quarian girl glanced back and worked, keying commands on both her OMNI-tool and the small device she had set up. Several moments pass as Tali works. After a moment, the only thing left in the room is silence.

"What did we get?"

Tali shook her head. "Not as much as I would like, but look at this." She turned so he could see her OMNI-Tool.

_T'Soni, Liara. Priority Objective. Obtain and Secure. Dispatching Cruisier 01004010501 to Planet Designation 60932090432432. Local Cluster Name: Therum. _

"Rhia, bring the _Normandy_ down to pick us up. We have our next objective."

_**Author Note: **I am not dead! I promise! Not a zombie! _

_Sorry this took so long to put up, it's been...real life is a thing apparently. _

_First off, huge thank you to Lady Amiee Krios for helping beta this chapter. Huge help in making this readable and make sense. _

_Second, I'm going to be slowing down how often I post chapters. I simply can't keep up the pace, and it's stressful even attempting to do one in a week with the way everything has been lately. I'm going to aim for two weeks, still posting on either on Saturday or Sunday. _

_Third, I'm going to take a minor "break" and try and get a little of a head start on the next chapter and see if I can't make a buffer again. So it might be a little longer for the next chapter. Still working, I swear though. Anyway, hope you enjoy!_


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